Disaster
by Gilded Blue
Summary: When Professor Son Gohan takes it upon himself to discipline the young, spoiled Bura Briefs, he finds himself getting very close very quickly to a girl with a mysteriously absent father, an extraordinarily wealthy mother, and an overprotective brother.
1. Disaster: One

**Disaster**

_"I guess it's hard to explain now, you know. After everything and all." _This is how we know that this is a story, and it does not end well.

_"Do you know why you're here, Bura? ...May I call you Bura?"_

Her chest would rise and it would fall. She closed her eyes, "_Of course," _Her hand fell to the box of cigarettes in her purse as she muttered bitterly _"I know why I'm here," _her eyes lowered, flame ignited, "_so I would prefer if we not get too friendly. I just want to get this over with."_

_"Of course, Miss Briefs. So let's explore this-tell me about it."_ The woman with glasses smiled with fake excitement, chewing a bit on the eraser of her pencil. _"And please- no smoking."_

Bura raised a brow_, "I am not here for you to be telling me what to do."_

_"But smoking is unhealthy, especially for someone your age, and it is against our policy..."_

She watched the smoke dance in front of her, _"That's no fun."_

_"He didn't like you to smoke either, did he?"_

Her eyes, bright and full of color of the ocean, went into a bit of a daze, darkening a bit as she recognized the place where her story began, "_Yes," _She droned to the blank and expectant face before her, but she was far, far away by then, taken far back to another place and time, back as she muttered,_ "He was no fun either."_ ...To the beginning.

* * *

'_Ugh... what's he babbling about now?' _She sighed, looking down at her notebook. She could barely keep her eyes open and yet _he _hadn't the decency to shut up so that she could sleep without the dull buzz of his voice in the background like a fly about her ears. School. It was quite possibly the most useless, the most repulsive, the most absurd thing that she'd ever been forced to endure. Of all of the tedious activities that teenagers are forced to partake in, she decided with a half-snort that school remains the most ridiculous of all.

He sighed inwardly. It could have been a kindergarten class at nap time. His heart complained heavily. He wanted to teach older students, young scholars, kids that really wanted to go somewhere with their lives. And yet... he was teaching zombies. They didn't care about what he had to say and they were wealthy so they didn't care if they didn't pass the test. Why did they all have to be so impatient, immature? Mostly he wondered why they couldn't just pay attention to what he was saying.

But he continued on, hoping that they really were concerned with their futures and listening to what he had to say. He tried to be optimistic. He even tried to some extent to follow the advice of others and not care if they cared or not, but that was a hard thing to do. He wasn't a particularly sensitive man, but he didn't like his words and efforts to be seen as a nuisance which was essentially the projected mood of the room. _They _were irritated with _him. _

Well, if she couldn't sleep then she would have to conjure up magnificent and brilliant way to stay awake. Like cinnamon gum.

She bent down with a yawn, covering her mouth with one hand and picking up her purse with another.

He raised a brow at his favorite student. Bura Briefs, daughter of the heiress to Capsule Corporations. She was the richest of all of the rich kids, and for it she was the worst of all of the students. The girl would never have to lift a finger in life and she knew it. She humored school even though it was rumored that she was as brilliant as her mother was at that age. He doubted it to some extent. Bulma showed excellence at an early age as a skilled mechanic and an avid reader. She was doted on by her father and mother and although she did apparently have a sort of disregard for the school system (which she unfortunately carried on to her later years as a mother of two very unruly children) she passed her tests with flying colors. Bura failed all or most of her tests and yet she was passed and passed and passed. At some point, the teachers were tired and they just let her keep going by.

The child lacked the curiosity, the need to know and find out about things. Or, rather, she was curious about the wrong things.

The most curious thing about the girl was the fact that no one really seemed to point out to her that she was really just acting like a young fool. The boys loved it, intimidated by the idea that a girl could be smart like Bulma Briefs, and half ashamed because she held everything over them. She had more money, she was certainly not one to hide her young body from the world (Gohan sourly appreciated his daughter for being a tomboy) and her world was nothing but parties and fun. They all followed her, they all followed her wherever she went, trying to catch on to her glamor, trying to celebrate their youth and unbeknown to them, promising their stupidity.

Of course there were other kids, kids like Xie that sat awkwardly in the back of the class, wishing they were a part of the selective, popular clique. They had at some point put forth some attention to his course, but in the end they failed to put forth significant effort, preferring to spend most of their time in the band room. Liu was absorbed in theatre. She spent most of her time reading over lines for the next big play, trying to advertise it to the class. Everything Liu did was dramatic and forced. Then of course there were the art kids like Ye, enigmatic and uninterested. Gohan hated how even the nonconformists could be put into a box, and most of them had an interesting adoration for the more popular kids at the school. Not all of them loved Bura, not all of them loved Do or any of the athletic guys or pretty girls. But most of them did, and the fact that it was a majority made a huge difference.

_'Makeup... makeup... pencil... emergency tampon... cigarettes... pen... red pen... what's this? No gum?' _The girl sighed at her options. She needed to remember to have fun things with her at school. The security guards had a bad habit of searching through her purse sometimes, and the last time they did they pulled out things ranging from handcuffs to electric shockers. They glowered at her with their old, dark eyes, and it was her thought that they were just jealous. Everyone was jealous of her.

Gohan looked around the room and felt the sudden jerk of irritation that he so frequently did, and decided that he wouldn't care. His sentence came to an abrupt end, but no heads looked up. He gained no attention for his dramatic pause and this created an uncomfortable friction in the air. The class hadn't noticed he'd stopped talking. That wasn't much of a surprise on his part, but he quickly tilted his head down back to the board and continued writing.

That was when, of course, the spark caught his eye. He instantly looked up, back to Bura, and the wretched smell of cigarette smoke filled his room.

Gohan must've stood there for a few seconds, astounded at the idea that a student should just start smoking in the middle of class. She'd done things like this before: sometimes she just walked out, sometimes she would pass notes to her little friends, sometimes she would accidentally set off things like firecrackers, or she'd look at a guy the right way and her boyfriend at the time would leap over chairs and they'd get into fights. Never before had she done something quite like this before, and he felt the anger crashing down at her. He cleared his throat, but she didn't look up. Finally, he managed, "You're _smoking_ in my class, Miss Briefs."

Bura blinked and held the cigarette away from her face, elbow on desk and palm facing up. What type of idiot was this to just inform her of the obvious? She never really liked Professor Son. He was so bland and she was surprised that he wasn't bored with himself. She turned a hard look on her teacher and returned, "You're coming to a point, Son?"

"You realize how many revolting chemicals you're putting in your body?" was his second thought. She was a kid. A stupid kid that thought that smoking was attractive and didn't give thought to the idea that cancer wasn't. The concern that came managed to throw a thin patch of dirt over his anger, it settled the fire down just enough, but the man was caught between being uncreative and wanting to throw the girl out of the school.

"No how many?" She returned sarcastically, her expression changing from annoyance to boredom again. So testy, was she! She adored the fight, the young, conflict-oriented girl, excited by something occurring. Other students roused slightly, poking their not-so-innocent little heads over their desks to watch Bura commence in a verbal spar with Professor Son. There was timid smiling and the rustling about of books and the young men in the class were ready to make booing noises and the young girls were trying to hold in their little giggles, looking down at their skirts, hands awkwardly placed in their laps.

As she sighed, a little grey cloud escaped from her mouth. Her calm attitude, it wasn't even defiance! It was like she was humoring him, smirking with that cocky look in her eyes. As though she deemed everyone beneath her, as though she truly felt that she was that much more significant than others. His jaw tightened and the students all turned their eyes on him to see what he would do. Gohan knew that he would have to do something. Not taking any action at all would only invite further disruption into his class and he knew well enough that teenagers were interesting little creatures. They would stretch any liberties until he was out of his mind and at breaking point.

Or maybe to see what he _could _do. "Get _out_ of my class room."

"Gladly," Bura sat up, taking her purse in her free hand. She was happy to be invited to leave the classroom. It saved her the trouble of being rude and just leaving. The boys made little catcalls, knowing full well that if her newly made ex-boyfriend were to hear them, the fights would practically begin a riot. He was an attractive athlete; he loved soccer and was about as smart as the weights that he lifted. He had very apparent issues with aggression and controlling his anger, though, and she was glad to be rid of him. But this was how they acted when she was single, and even sometimes when she wasn't.

"**Enough**." So commanding was the voice of the teacher, Bura had to turn around. She was half unsure that it was him. It was a command, not barked or shouted but controlled and projected throughout the room in such a way that there was an immediate, tense silence in the room as everyone watched with slightly widened eyes. Gohan did not have time to feel pleased with himself that he'd regained a certain amount of control in his class room, he only managed to look Bura straight in the eye with a stony face, an expression so intensely serious that she felt a chill run down her abdomen, almost showing to her public that she was uncomfortable with herself. "And I plan on calling your mother." Gohan added, trying to sound like a disciplinarian, but it was not hidden from Bura or the classroom that he'd never had a student quite like her before and no matter what he did, to her he was still powerless, and so to the rest of the class he was weak. She felt comfortable once more, and didn't even believe completely that she'd been half frightened only moments before. The class got rowdy all too quickly and he just stared, half-regretting the mention of her mother.

Sure, he'd had a number of problem students, but never one that didn't at least complain when he sent them away or called their parents or gave them detention. The problem was she didn't care about her mother's punishment, and school was a joke. She took nothing seriously. Well, he would just have to think of something. He would not have his class disrupted in such a way anymore.

"Whatever." She put out the bud-on a picture of a woman resting on his desk as she exited.

* * *

He was rubbing his face. She caused so much stress in his world, he half wondered what he had done to deserve such a child to be constantly in trouble. Sometimes he wished the teachers would leave him alone, he blamed them for not being able to control her, but he knew very well as looked over at her, sitting comfortably across from him, that she could not be controlled. She was one of those wild types. She was the last person he wanted to see, but when he looked at the finances he remembered exactly why he couldn't be rid of her, at least not for a few more years. Sometimes he wondered what he would do when she graduated. Wealthy kids like the Briefs children were hard to come by and even harder to keep in line. There was nothing that they didn't have; nothing that they weren't given.

"You've violated dress code, again."

"But I hate uniform." Bura whined. She looked down, and instead of wearing her navy skirt with the little orange trims she was wearing a red dress, demanding attention, allowing her young and developed body to be exhibited to the other young eyes that would linger on it. Ah, male attention. Frankly, she indignantly thought, to crush one's style would be to crush one's spirit. She felt to force students to wear uniform was... stifling.

"You weren't in second period. Is there a reason why?" His hands rested entwined on his desk. She frequently skipped her gym class, and he knew very well that it was simply because she _didn't feel like it, _but as the representation of good school administration, he asked anyway for on-looking eyes to see. He questioned her in a calm tone, and yet with a tired tint to it as well, and he knew better than to think she was lying. She usually didn't bother with lies. He brother lied often, but she was more open about things as they were. In a sense it only made her harder to deal with.

She looked at him straight in the eyes and plainly stated, "I hate running around. We're not cattle, we're students." Her voice was sharp and her eyes were narrowed. She seemed more irritated with him than anything,

"Okay." He sighed, looking down at the never ending list of things he hadn't yet questioned her about. Things she had done in the last two weeks, he sourly thought. "Last week you started a fire in chemistry."

"Now, that wasn't my fault." She responded, quick and indignant. Defining fault, she thought, is such a subjective thing. It was at this point that she was starting to have more fun with her principal, enjoying his inability to return any sort of condescending remarks to her, for they'd all been used up, every threat, they were all dried up.

"Not your fault? You were the one using the chemicals. It's all right here." He said, pointing a thick finger at an incident report before him, "It even says that then you proceeded to laugh as the fire caused over two hundred and fifty dollars in damage, equipment alone." He had to calm his tone. She seemed to have more fun when he got excited, but with the last statement he could not control his voice deepening with every word in anger.

She gave an innocent shrug again, "It's my mother's money, anyway."

"Be that as it may," He hissed, "We have a very detailed safety plan, Miss Briefs, and someone could have gotten hurt while you were enjoying your shenanigans. Try not to be such a little pyromaniac next time and actually be of some assistance." And, he thought gravely, there would be a next time, "And then you set off alarms," He blinked, "by smoking in class?"

Innocently, she smiled at him and lifted her young, slender arms in mock-surrender, "Now, you have no proof..."

He sighed, trying to think of the best approach for her. Truly, involving security wouldn't be the best plan. He could still technically force Bulma Briefs to pay tuition for the rest of the semester, but he knew well enough that if he made her angry she could make him sorry, and she didn't pull punches. "Smoking is illegal for a fifteen year old girl. You are aware of that, are you not?"

"Of course," she replied, nodding thoughtfully.

"You can be fined, Miss Briefs, for being under-aged as well as smoking on school property. Do you understand the severity of this?" He waved his hands about, trying to make his speech more elaborate, trying to convey to her the severity of her actions, "I just wish that you could see what you're doing with your life, young lady. You're a smart girl, you could accomplish so much and I don't understand why you are so very resistant to the idea of living up to your full potential. People would kill for your many talents and assets and yet you ungratefully throw them away."

"Bura," In entered an older version of the girl with a deep sigh. "What am I to do with her?" The statement wasn't directed at anyone but said under her breath grudgingly as she looked at the people present and briefly wondered how long taking care of this whole affair would take. The business woman sat in a chair without regard for the principal or silent teacher present. "Well, Patel, what has she done now?"

The young Bra Briefs glared, confident now more than ever that her mother stood by her, "Your existence is practically vestigial." Bulma tilted a head down to look at her satisfied daughter, but ultimately seemed to decide to return her attention to Patel.

"Bra's been smoking in class."

Bulma sighed, "Okay. I understand. Bura, let's go." The mother stood, holding her daughter by the shoulder as she turned her towards the exit. The grasp was harsh, but Bura didn't seem to care. She felt a certain safety with her mother, or at least she knew well enough that her mother was more irritated with the system than she was with them. Where did they think she _got _the cigarettes? Her mother had been a chain-smoker for years.

It was surprising to Patel that the two looked like clones of each other. Bura's hair was longer, but the bright blue eyes, the sharp noses, the arrogant glances, the look of superiority ever apparent in every motion. It was all there. Bulma was very pretty, but he had known all too well the ugliness inside of her to find the woman too attractive. No, he found her more powerful and ferocious and intimidating.

"Actually..." Another voice finally spoke up. He'd been watching as silently as possible as Patel interrogated the girl. He'd taken his own notes about how Patel was- weak, selfish, unintellectual, greedy, portly Principal Patel. It was during these moments that Gohan decided that Bura needed some significant punishment in her life, something that was irritating, if nothing else, and consistent. She had to know that she was bound to some laws. That there was a structure in the school and that someone was willing to take the time to set her straight. And after day after day of interruptions and foolishness and now, finally, smoking in his class! Son Gohan wouldn't take it. He firmly took a step towards the desk where Bulma stood.

Patel looked on in surprise and even horror at Gohan, almost ready to shut him up. He banged his knee on his desk as he attempted to stand, and Bura bit her lip to not laugh at the comedy of it all. Patel sent a sharp look at Gohan, practically threatening his job with his eyes, but Gohan ignored it as he and the mother of the young girl stared each other down with unyielding eyes.

Bulma turned, not turning around entirely to face him as if he were unimportant, raising a brow at his audacity, "And _you_ are?"

Bura almost seemed to smile at him, as if grateful but he wasn't sure of what. Her manner towards him was casual, almost as if she was close to liking him. She'd taken the time to wriggle herself out of her mother's grasp. But if she was grateful to him for something, then it was wrongly so. He had no intention of helping the child get out of trouble. He held out a hand to shake Bulma's, "Son Gohan. Bura is my student."

"I see." Bulma flatly added, "Nice to meet you. You look familiar, Professor Son, did I fund your research?" The last thing she wanted was to be preached at by some pretentious, pale scholar like this character. However, her impatience reached the idea that if she humored him or even flattered him then it would get to the point sooner than later.

"We had another form of punishment in mind..." Gohan trailed off, knowing he was getting ahead of himself but unwilling to stop at this point. He felt his heart beating a little bit faster as he spoke. This wasn't the bravest thing he'd ever done and frankly he was unimpressed by the lot of these Briefs people that seemed to truly believe that they were richer and more powerful (and therefore better) than everyone else.

"Is that so, Mister Son?" Bulma looked over at principal Patel with a glint of amusement in her eyes.

The principal made a grunt, "Oh, uh," He struggled for an authoritative tone but as he looked back at Gohan his voice was only questioning, "We have?"

"Bura is to serve detention with me for the rest of the year, and any other outbursts such as this will result in expulsion." He simply stated. There, he said it. Everyone knew that Bura couldn't contain herself and that she'd be expelled within the week. Bura glanced at him with a little bit of curiosity in her eyes, half daring them all to do it, and half interested by the prospect of punishment.

Gohan took a breath as the wild-eyed Bulma sat down, rather delicate and purposeful as she said, "Bura go wait outside." She pressed a gentle hand on her daughter's waist and out the young girl went with her mother's blessing into the world where she could wreak havoc among the mindless masses. Gohan inwardly sighed.

The girl grinned and winked, and was gone as soon as she'd entered. Her mother, on the other hand, had taken to a calm voice, but this time it was a furious calm, "Gentlemen, please sit."

"But-"

"Sit."

Both sat dumbly. Gohan almost immediately questioned his choice.

"Now, I am a lady and so I really am not experienced when it comes to poker, but I can call your bluff, Patel, I donate a very generous amount to this school and Bura would just as soon go to Black Star-I hear with proper donations they could be more recognized. How would you feel if Principal Dou's salary increased by ten-fold? Now, any school-wide drug and sex scandals, any functions, any caterers you need are paid for and smoothed over and it all comes out of my purse. Expel Bura? I think not. Don't even threaten it, it may hurt my feelings."

Bulma's eyes were like ice. Gohan swallowed, and he almost felt bad at Bura had to deal with this precarious woman on a daily basis, "Now, if detention with your professor is what you think will fix this, then fine. I'll even let it be for an indefinite period of time provided Bra performs better academically. For now until she behaves herself, if it makes you get off of my back and stop wasting my time and keeps her off of the streets and out of my hair, then I'll go for it. But if her behavior does not improve and I feel like you glorified babysitters are incompetent entirely, I'd just as well take her to Black Star. Understood?"

"Clearly, Ma'am," Patel nodded ready for Bulma to take her leave.

"Wonderful. Detention will begin next Monday." She declared, and left the room for the two men to stare at each other.

* * *

"It's not that Mrs. Briefs doesn't care about Bura, you see, it's that Bura has gotten to be so out of hand that she no longer has much desire to deal with the girl. Her father used to apparently be a real disciplinarian, but Bura seems to have some sort of power to slip through her father's fingers. That wasn't the case when Trunks was here."

Patel almost tackled Gohan with a hug when the woman left. It was so typical of such a two-faced man, but his appreciation beamed on, "Oh, Gohan, your accomplishment, staring Bulma in the eye, letting her know that you are unfaltering in this endeavor to finally clean up Bura's act… you're such a great man."

Gohan stared blank at the man before him, not entirely understanding, "I just told her what she needed to hear. And I mean, it's really Professor Mitzy that would be doing all of the work, she really is the one that controls the detentions in the afternoon." Gohan wanted to ask the man how he felt about this woman coming in and doing their jobs for them.

_She called us glorified babysitters. That's what she thinks of us. _

Patel laughed a little bit, sweat forming on his balding head, "Oh, Gohan, don't you know? Laura Mitzy refuses to have anything to do with Bura!" His smile brightened rather sadistically, triumphantly, "I'd, you know, assumed that by so boldly stepping before _Bulma Briefs _you would know at least that. That's why she doesn't have detention every day, no one has the energy to stay after and babysit her!" His smile was broader and broader with each word, like a wicked cat, and he clapped his hands like a foolish monkey, and he howled with laughter at the nearly defeated expression that crept across Gohan's face.

"So then..."

"That's right! _You're_ the new keeper of the young Miss Briefs! Just be grateful it's not Trunks you're watching," Patel finally said seriously. This was Gohan's first year teaching at Orange Star, but the legends and stories of what Hell Trunks'd put the school through were still whispered about the halls, by everyone except for Bura it seemed. Trunks' pranks left many teachers and security guards alike with vivid nightmares, lingering in their minds. The difference was that his father always put him in his place, at least until he was bold enough to try something again. "The only one that could keep young Trunks in line was that father of his," Patel smiled a bit, remembering the days when he was young.

"I never met him, of course, their father was apparently rather anti-social, but after experiencing Trunks for a few months we were all sure he'd end up with a girl pregnant by the time he was sixteen. And look at him now! He really did turn out just fine."

"The same could go for Bra." Gohan pointed out.

"Bura's different from the boy. Trunks played pranks and flirted with girls."

"Bra flirts with boys and does what she can to get attention when she's bored." Gohan responded, feeling his stomach lurch a bit as his plan had backfired so completely. Even if the two weren't so different, he was still going to have to re-experience puberty through the eyes of a rich teenage girl.

He felt that he was being punished for trying to do what was right, and teaching that girl a lesson was the honest and right thing to do. Someone had to teach her to own up to the reciprocations of her actions, and at fifteen, a young adult, no one had! She needed to know there were consequences, both good and bad and she needed some sort of guidance!

Gohan swallowed to himself. He just didn't want to be the one that had to teach them to her, he didn't have the energy, or the patience to be able to deal with such a difficult child for more time than he was obligated to. He berated himself almost mercilessly: he hated having to teach this girl for an hour a day and there he went and increased that level of time he was obligated to deal with her. He half wondered what she would try to do in detention.

Ugh, smoking! It was outrageous, why if Pan had _ever... _

"But Bulma is right. The systems have changed, without her or her money there is no way that we would have half of what we do now." Patel looked down at a golden ring on his fat, purple finger. His school was practically owned by the few rich families that lived in the city, a pet dog or something. Gohan swallowed in disgust. It was unfair but a truth that had to be known to all.

Gohan looked up thoughtfully, "Yes, Bulma was interesting."

"She's a pistol. I know." Patel made a shooting noise, pretending his thumb and index fingers to be a gun, "She was more protective of Trunks."

"Oh?" Gohan asked, somewhat interested.

"Like I said, she's simply gotten tired of Bura. Bura knows damn well all she has to do is smile pretty and people love her. She'll never have to work a day in her life, so she shouldn't start. I almost feel sorry for Bulma, I have the feeling that even if Bulma cared Bura would be as bad as she is."

"Could it be possible that Bura wants her mother's attention?" Gohan rested his chin in his hand. What _was _wrong to the child where she felt that she had to act out to that extent? Honestly, the girl seemed to put no consideration into anything: she simply... did without thinking.

"Possible. It's pretty likely, many rich kids resort to this sort of action to gain their parents' attention. Son, I'm no shrink and if Bura needs one she can afford to buy the best one in the world. All I want is for the girl to stop setting a bad example and to maintain some level of order here in my school. She's one of those people that everyone blindly follows into Hell, and we can't have her running around."

"I see..." But Gohan knew full and well that the words of Patel were true, for once. he'd witnessed that level of blind conformity for himself every day.

"Go on, rest up. You're going to have Hell when Monday comes. I won't be surprised if you decide to quit before then. Just remember…" He said narrowing his eyes at Gohan with a threatening glance, "if this doesn't work out, it's going to be your neck."

Gohan smiled uneasily, "Well... Money to take my wife out doesn't just appear." Oh, that wife of his! They spent a good deal of time together when they got had it, the problem was that they didn't get it very often. But she was charming, and beautiful still to him, and he was sure of the solidity of his marriage. Gohan was determined to believe in it.

Patel laughed a bit, patting the teacher on the back, "Ah, you're at the age where the wife still wants to go out with you. Bura will change that."

Gohan blinked a bit, frowning, "What do you mean?"

"Kids like her, they tire you out. You get irate, snap at everyone. It was Trunks that did it to me, back when I was as much of a kid as he was." Patel said with a sigh.

"I see... I'll be going now." He felt uneasy at the idea of Bura ruining his life, and so Patel looked haggard and older than usual when he nodded, dismissing Son Gohan for the afternoon. As Gohan stopped by his room, he pondered on the idea for a bit, picking up his briefcase, loading it with homework papers to grade and the reminder on a green sticky note to use problems sixteen and twenty-four on the upcoming test because he'd gone over those in class and they should all know how to do those, he briskly walked out the door and into the windy world.

The sky was bright, and a demanding breeze nearly blew off the hat that Gohan's set upon his head and tugged at the fabric of the light coat draped over his arm. He smiled to the trees more brightly than he had to any person recently. Bura, ruin him? Gohan refused to believe that would happen to him. His sudden determination to fix Ms. Briefs rivaled his determination to keep his marriage together.

* * *

**CL**


	2. Disaster: Two

**Disaster**

She stared in the mirror. So she woke up that morning. It still pitch black outside. She sat on her bed. It was still pitch black outside. Her eyes were begging for her to close them. It was still pitch black outside. She wanted more out of life. She needed more out of life. And then, she started to get dressed. Feelings of self-pity and pessimism crept across her brow, and she felt desperate and unhappy with the world. Oh, if she were to be given the whole world she hardly felt that she'd be happy. Nothing in this world, nothing at all, could really make her feel better, not when she was in moods like this.

It was just one of those days where her self-esteem had dropped significantly. It was just one of those days where all she had going for her was what other people said and a smile forced through caked on makeup and grit teeth, she loved herself but she didn't. She hated what she was forced to endure.

And her head tilted to the window. She could end it, she could just run away. She agonized over the idea, the very prospect of running away, forever and ever, never to worry about maybe having to worry about something in the distant future.

She took off her tank top and sighed, fishing for a bra. _Honestly, it's just too early in the morning. _She felt that there was something terrible and depressing about the morning. Any knowledge of the world acquired late at night, where all of the action occurred, simply disappeared as though it never existed. The morning was the great eraser of great things.

She could've run away. She could've hid from this mediocre life. That was her greatest concern, the idea that the world is so mediocre. Where were the exciting things in this world? What was left to do? She desperately hated everything, and only continued to dress with the acknowledgment that it was just the morning, and she was always grumpy in the morning. And so the shower she took seemed a little bit colder, and as she brushed her teeth the minty tingle didn't feel all that tingly, and her socks weren't very soft, and her jeans made her butt look weird, and her shirt didn't make her cleavage look as inviting and alluring as she would've liked for it to, and her makeup looked wrong in regular light, and when her mother looked up at her over her coffee, she knew full and well that she couldn't pretend to be sick.

The things that she _could've _done sat in her head all shaking their fists at her, resentful and glowering. She could've walked out of the house and walked away from the world, but one doesn't walk away from the world at six in the morning, and the class bell would ring soon enough. She grabbed the dyno-cap box of her personal vehicles on her shelf and blew a convincing kiss to her mother, who smiled back at her daughter despite herself.

The sun was just coming up, and she felt the cool morning. She grabbed her bag and purse and looked up, ready for the morning to begin.

* * *

He looked at his wife. Or what was supposed to be her. No, it was just an empty spot on the bed, barely used next to his worn side of the sheets. But he tried to smile beside himself, she was always at work now and one had to admire that she worked so hard. He sighed a little bit, looking out to the black morning sky. There was so much that was worth smiling at in the morning. His heart faded back to the country, he remembered how everything seemed so peaceful and together in the country. He loved it so much there, the feeling of optimism, that eternal feeling of rebirth. It was like spring every day. Everything was just waking up in the world; everything was just getting to know today's new, slightly different rhythm within the world.

He looked in the mirror. So he'd woken up, that was a big step. He grew up in a house where he would rise early and go to bed before the moon hung itself full in the sky. For some nostalgic reason, he let his heart squeeze as he considered his childhood and how remarkably different his life was now. It was as if it were all a dream, or a fragmented memory of both love and violence combined spectacularly.

It was pitch black outside. He turned on the shower. It was pitch black outside. His eyes were begging for him to close them, just for a little bit of rest, just a little bit of rest. It was pitch black outside. He felt a more unhappy part of himself constantly make reference to sleep. He was exhausted; he'd stayed up late grading.

He faintly remembered at one time he wanted more out of life. How he needed so much more, how he never thought he'd end up in a huge house that his father in law bought, how he'd end up with a wife he saw ten minutes a week, how he'd end up as a teacher in a school with rich children when he wanted to go lie in intellectualism and love books and read. He felt like he needed more out of life at that instant, but instead he pushed the thought to the back of his mind with a smile. He reminded himself of that beat, that great beat to the world. And Taoist readings, even though he could never be a true Taoist for they shunned intellectualism and he believed that to be a great feat of man, the ability to think on things and tinker with those thoughts and produce something amazing out of it. But remembering the peace of the ideas that Taoists stressed, to love life and let things work out just as they would, it was such a beautiful, comforting thought, the idea that he as a single, insignificant being could be connected with everything else. He liked to think everyone was floating in a soft, sparkling river.

The thought vanished as he flicked his head back, letting water flick off of his hair in a little arc. The water felt nice, cascading down his body. He was more muscular than he seemed. Secretly he enjoyed others finding him to be weak. His love for martial arts had done him well, and his body was healthy and active, but that part of his life was over. Even though... even though...

It was one of those days, he could tell by the stale air, where he would drag himself home and order Chinese and eat it on the couch for his wife to yell at him when she got home because somehow she'd know, and then she would storm off back to her office for something while he helped his daughter with her homework, but by the time she came back, by that time he'd be back in bed. And he hated it. He resented the woman that he loved, resented the daughter that he adored, resented the reflection that screamed maturity.

He supposed that his great dilemma really focused on the idea that he felt so old. He really felt aged by the world, and half of him wondered if Patel's predictions had already become a reality set into motion. A boyish part of him wanted to vomit and reject the entire idea; he felt a bit of spirit that he hadn't in a very long time rise up to his throat as he stepped out of the shower, naked, new, flesh warm and fresh. A hinted sexuality lingered about him, but it was stifled as quickly as he'd noticed it.

And his eyes strayed to the door. All he had to do was pack a suitcase and be on his way.

He pulled on his shirt like it was his stray jacket.

He could've left. He could've started over, but he looked outside and half wondered why he would ever want to escape a world as beautiful as this one. He cocked his head back inside and closed the window, feeling sheepish and guilty even though his wife wasn't there to scold him for opening the windows (which were there, by the way, to open and not to merely look out).

The things he _could've _done.

* * *

"I love that shirt!" The exclamation launched itself in Bra's direction a half beat too soon. A girl slapped her on the back, and Bura whipped around, narrowed her eyes, and allowed the girl to know that it was not okay to touch her. A little arrogant in her own right, she shrugged. Bura ran a hand through her hair. She wanted to get away from the irritating group of people that managed to get around her. She dropped her books on purpose. The girls all jumped to help her pick them up, and she rested a hand on her mouth.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot, I've got to go. Something Son wanted to talk to me about, or detention, I forgot. You know how my mom's getting, what a bitch. I'll see you later." The words rushed out of her mouth. She generally hated doing things by herself, it was with habit that she had some sort of lackey with her, but a bit of peace of mind seemed to really be healthy for her at the moment. She was just in no mood. 'My God these people have no personality to speak of!' Her head was screaming.

"Bra Briefs in detention? Doesn't sound like her at all!" The other girl said loudly, eyeing her.

They looked at her with uncertainty. She was the glue that tied the group together. None of them even knew how to speak to the other without talking about her. She felt her friends were all absurdly stupid at that moment, and longed to hang out with her older group of friends.

She wanted her brother, as stuffy as he was, give him a few drinks and he was mischievous as ever.

"So I won't be home tonight, Dad. Grandpa says Mom'll be working and he needs me over there too, so go ahead and get something to eat. I've already done my homework." Bura looked up at the voice coming down from the hall, it was distinct and immediately she felt that she didn't like this person approaching.

A man sighed, "Fine, Pan. Go on, then."

"Dad?" The girl's voice asked, a little bit concerned, a little bit accusatory.

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Just, you seem to resent-"

Gohan blinked and looked at Bura, cutting off his daughter with his glance, "Well, Miss Briefs, I see that you've decided to come late to detention on your first day."

"Obviously," Bura hissed in return, "You should know that this is all foolishness. I mean, honestly!" So Pan was related to Gohan? That made sense. Son was such a popular last name. Bura hated being seen alone in front of Pan, because she enjoyed projecting herself off as immensely popular (as she was) to the girl. Bura never liked Pan. She didn't even know why, there was something about the way that the girl was just so judgmental and so very cold to her that never rubbed her well. In her own way she was glad that Pan didn't attend the same school, she was sent off to some other private school and they seldom encountered each other. No wonder she was so stuffy.

Oh, the way they were all connected to each other without even knowing!

"Well, Pan, this is Bura. She's one of my students." Gohan said, sensing the tension between the two girls. He sought to make it better, but half of him was so irritated with Bura he wanted to get her alone so that she could be reprimanded without an audience. Maybe that would work, to take away people that would think that's she tough for being resistant.

"Yes, I've heard of her." Pan tilted her head towards Bura in disdain. Bura matched the look. The girls seemed to be simmering as they were quiet for a few moments. They seemed to want to fight at all costs, verbally, physically, they were stiffening and ready.

"So _you're _his daughter?" She raised a brow and her nose haughtily. "No wonder."

Gohan frowned, unappreciative of the remark made towards his daughter. But he saw in his daughter's eyes that a fight was about to erupt between the two super powers of the hallway and wanting to avoid a mess squeezed his daughter's shoulder gently, "Go on, Pan. Bura's got detention."

Pan looked at Bura for a moment, a bit of a smile tugging at her lips, "I see. Well, then, order in, Dad, and don't forget that Mom hates it when you eat on the couch!"

* * *

Tick. Tick. Tick. **Tick**.

Every single painful twitch of the clock slowly killed her. She didn't seem to want to fight, or she was holding her cards in her pocket as she sat there at a desk close to his. He tried to look down and grade papers, but she was distracting him. She was an infuriating little thing, she was. He couldn't take it. It was utterly boring, just _sitting _there while she looked around the room silently without doing any work, though she had books sprawled across her desk. She just looked around.

And then he noticed she began to stare at a particular medal next to his desk with unblinking eyes. She would just stare. It must have been ten minutes. Curious, what she was like with no one to pay attention to her.

"What _are _you doing?" He asked, playing right into her trick. It was the worst type of manipulation ever. She leaned over and smiled at him. It was a bright, sunny smile that she gave him, as though she weren't in trouble, as though she didn't really hate him. And both knew that she did.

"Training to become a Jedi-Knight. I'm trying to use the force, here. You're disturbing me." She nodded a little bit severely, and the teacher didn't know whether or not he should roll his eyes or laugh at her. There was something about her that made him want to do both things. She didn't look up at him. He stared at her.

"So are you going to actually do any work?" He gracefully stepped out of his desk, turning to examine the papers she had sprawled out on the desk before her."

"I hate chemistry, it's so stupid. I don't want to do it." She looked at him.

"How is chemistry stupid?" He asked her, leaning against a desk across from hers. Sometimes this method worked with other kids. She ignored him and looked back over at the medal. It was her way of ending the conversation about her homework, he was sure. Gohan sighed and pulled the medal from the wall, throwing it to her, sardonically adding, "That's the only way it's going to get to you."

"That's what you think." She frowned, but began to finger the ribbons, "Wow. You're thirty-seven."

He blinked. "So?"

She rested back in her chair, "Three years," She lifted three fingers up, "Until the angel of death knocks at your door, then. People over forty, they're just waiting to die."

"The angel of death, huh?"

She felt bored with him. She hated that it had to be Professor Son that she was stuck with. She looked out the window, "So why is the sky blue?"

He stared at her for a moment. "You may already know that sunlight is actually made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. You probably also know that sunlight has to pass through our atmosphere before it reaches our eyes. The gas molecules in the atmosphere break up, or 'scatter' the sunlight into its many parts, and they react differently to different colors. Different colors of light have different energies, or wavelengths. For example, red light has a long wavelength while blue light has a short wavelength. The gas molecules in the atmosphere scatter the blue wavelengths better than the red wavelengths. So the sky looks blue."

"Is that so?" She truly hated everything about this. If he were Trunks he would have just told her in no uncertain terms to knock it off and do her homework. She was stuck with bumbling, boring and weak Professor Son. He couldn't force her to stay in there. What would he do, grab her? There was absolutely nothing he could do. He was just an old, bitter man that hated his job and probably everything else too, and he probably wanted her to go as much as she didn't want.

He blinked. She was impossible.

She looked pleased with herself at his mild aggravation, "I thought it was just because someone thought blue was a pretty color." And she smiled to herself in the idea that the color blue was her favorite of all the colors. Bra was blue, after all.

Raising a dark brow he couldn't help but feel the smirk come to his lips as he said, "Yeah. That's exactly how it happened." Putting a hand to his head, as if he'd forgotten something really important, he continued dryly, "How stupid can I get? I forgot. A magical faerie's favorite color was blue, and so one day she got bored and said 'Hey, I'll just decide that for no scientific or logical reason, I'll turn the sky blue.'"

He shook his head, half laughing at the idea. Kids are so ridiculous sometimes. Pan was always more practical than that. He wondered if Bura was one of those really eccentric rich kids. She always seemed like a little rich mini-socialite. Almost like a celebrity of the city, people paid attention to what she did. He distinctly recalled Trunks getting more media attention, but being the future of Capsule Corporations, that made sense.

Bura grinned, "I like that story more." And so she did, she would always have something of an affinity for the idea that things that weren't exactly human coexist silently.

Gohan couldn't hold back his smile, shaking his head a little bit at the girl, "Isn't your mother a genius? Couldn't you have asked her that?" His tone was mocking her and her smile flourished in it.

At first she frowned at him sharply and he regretted bringing Bulma up, but soon she shrugged, "So everyone's a genius. Maybe she's just really intelligent." The conversation felt comfortable, rhythmic again.

"Whatever you say," Gohan said with a light shrug, turning his attention back down to a stack of papers below his hand.

Her voice chirped through, making him almost flush, "So you believe in faeries too?"

Gohan stared at her for a moment. This time, he couldn't help but laugh. He was trying to ignore the silly things she was saying, in all of their blatant, unapologetic silliness, and he remembered that this girl that was so hyped up to be something so creatively wicked was just a child sitting in detention after school. He was almost pleased with himself that he met this conclusion sooner than later. He almost felt at peace with his sentence.

Bura began to rummage through her purse with a bit of a sigh, and of course cigarettes were one of the items he noticed strewn out across her desk. When she looked up to see his stony look, Bra smiled at him, handing the box over, "Do you want one?"

He glared at the box, "You're offering me…" But when he saw in her hand some sort of sour candy straws, he didn't know whether to groan or laugh, "Sure."

She got up, throwing the box to him as she sat on his desk, crossing her legs as she inspected his pictures and whatnot. "So Pan's your daughter. She's fifteen, isn't she? You were kinda young for a kid."

He blinked at the tartness of the candy, and again at the personal question, "Pan is fourteen. I married my girlfriend in college and she was born four months later."

"I see." Bura raised a brow, "That must have been difficult either way."

Gohan nodded, laughing a bit at the memory, "Well, after my father-in-law stopped trying to murder me, he talked my wife into working for him where pay was good and she was secure with Daddy as the boss," She blinked at the bitter tone, "So I finished my last year of school and tended to baby while she brought home the bread. It is very backwards, I know."

Bura moved away from him, gathering her things in her bag, "I'm hungry. Are you going to come and babysit me or will I see you tomorrow?"

Gohan blinked again. She was... _flirting _with him; he didn't miss that suggestive look in her eyes. His thoughts dashed to his wife and daughter, and he shook his head, "You've got another half hour of detention, Miss Briefs."

The thought of a meal was more than tempting and Gohan remembered Bulma and what she would think if he let her daughter roam the streets when she was supposed to be in detention with him. He was a decent man. She was just playing with him.

Their eyes dangerously met each other and once again they were enemies. She wanted to stand up and just leave, but his glare darkened and she looked down at a picture frame that was broken. She fingered the broken glass over a pretty woman with short black hair and bright blue eyes. She had a pearl necklace on, discreet and conservative femininity at its best. Bura found herself not so much caring for the image of this woman, and she looked up at him, "Who broke your picture frame? You know its bad luck to keep someone in a broken picture frame."

"I'm not very superstitious." Gohan murmured, quietly as he glanced over at Bra j

"Oh, I see. Of course you wouldn't be." She spat nastily, as though it was a great disgraceful thing.

"You can replace it if you want. You're the one that broke it." He looked at her with a sharp glance. "Go ahead and put it down, huh? And finish your chemistry homework."

"I've only got twenty minutes." She looked at him innocently with a little bit of a shrug. He got up and took her arm gently to not offend her, but with enough force to move her from his desk to hers and he pointed at the problems.

"I'll help you." He crossed his arms over his chest.

And so detention went on. Every single problem she didn't understand something, and he explained everything. He didn't know whether or not she was trying to punish him or be facetious, but he answered every question and more. The second that the clock chimed Bra knew it was time for her to go home she threw her books into her back, cutting him off mid-sentence, and walked out of the room.

He couldn't have asked for anything more, at least she actually did something.

* * *

"So what happened when you finally got a job?" Bura looked up over her drink. She bought a soda before coming, and he looked up. He wanted to say something about it, being the slightly compulsive man that he was. Rules existed for a reason, order existed for a reason. He was interrupted in his great thinking by her little bubbles of laughter. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you have drink in my class?" Gohan asked, frowning. "It's after hours, but you still shouldn't have it..."

"You should just let go sometimes," she looked at him, tilting her head to the side before taking a gulp of the drink. He shook his head with a slight grin, taking the soda out of her hand before she had the chance to move.

Her eyes were still widened in surprise at his speed. He'd never really shown his agility before. He was back, leaning against his desk looking awfully smug and proud of himself as he examined the soda. "Cherry? Nice."

She looked flushed for a moment. "Give it back!" Her arms moved about, punctuating her irritation, and he found it immensely entertaining to watch her.

"Tell you what, if you finish up your literature essay, I'll give it back." He looked at her, cocking a brow. She knew he'd won that round: he had her soda, and she loved that soda, and it was not particularly tasty when flat. With a grudging glare, she looked down at the blank paper before her.

"But we can turn it in on Thursday!" She complained, looking at him.

"And if you're done tomorrow you get extra credit, and I'm pretty sure you need it." He looked at her with certainty. She made a grunt to acknowledge the comment, but not completely accept it. She hated talking about her grades.

"But I'll do it tonight!" She complained, rubbing her head, "I can't think, I don't want to write right now! You're stifling my creative spirit! The juices have not yet begun to flow!"

Gohan thought for a second, and started to chuckle, "Well, if you start writing I'll tell you about what happened when I got my job?" The offer seemed halfhearted to him, he didn't think that would fly particularly well with her. Sometimes it worked with Goten though. That was the only other person he knew that was quite as… chatty as Bura, most girls he knew from high school included

To his surprise, she looked at him and with a bit of a shrug said, "Deal."

He sighed, but she'd started to write her introductory paragraph, so he felt obligated to keep his end of the deal. He didn't want to disturb her writing, but after a few sentences she looked up at him with a sharp glance, demanding that he begin her story, a look that said, _I'm listening and I'm waiting. _So he did begin, after, of course, trying to find out where he could begin, "Pan was about eighteen months when I got my first job. She ended up staying with my parents for a little while. My wife never liked Mom and Dad, or at least I don't remember it."

"What? Why?"

Gohan flinched a little bit, "He's a marital artist." He looked the other way, sighing, "Maybe she just never was able to understand their lifestyle. Either way, she meant well. She didn't want me to work, you see. She wanted me to be a stay at home father, her income by that time was better than good."

Bura frowned at a sentence, "It wasn't fair of her to ask that of you." He glanced over the paper and read over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't just writing things down. She glared up at him, a bit irritated and he coughed and continued with his story.

"I was very attached to Pan, but no, I couldn't bring myself to stay home every day and watch soap operas while she took naps." He smiled at the memory. It was a good time, when he was able to play with his little Panny.

She laughed a little bit, completely able to imagine her teacher watching soap operas and relishing in the thought of it, "You did that?"

"No not really. I read or studied when I wasn't trying to keep up with her, she was a fast little thing, and she always managed to get into something she ought not be into, but for some reason I loved her all the more for that mischievous spirit of hers. As you might have guessed, it's very unlike mine. My mother was one of those moms that liked to see her children to excel in every way, and she still is. I still receive the occasional book from her." He looked thoughtful, appreciative of his mother's contributions to his life.

"What about your dad?" She seemed somewhere between curious and bored with her paper. She tapped a pen on the paper. She was already over half a page down. Inwardly, he celebrated the victory.

"Dad was interested in martial arts. I used to sneak off in the middle of the night to fight with him. He loved my mother, but he didn't agree that my studies were what mattered most." Gohan smiled as he closed his eyes and remembered the dark, cool breeze of the night. Oh, how he loved so very much that feeling, his sweat was rewarded with the satisfaction of his strength. He remembered his father's kind smile, he remembered the love and warmth that existed in his house, and he missed the place that he grew up in. He almost fell backwards, he was thinking so far back to times that he didn't think of so very often. But even so, he loved it. The thought of it made him smile now although normally when it came to mind it made him sad. Bura was diligently working on her paper, reading and rereading sentences, looking at the poem she was analyzing, circling and analyzing a word here or a phrase there.

He felt very distracted when she asked, "And what did you think?"

Gohan blinked. She was absorbing everything he was telling her. "Well, at the time, I agreed with my father, but now my mother's vision sort of became my goals." He looked out of the window, arms crossed around his chest. He felt hot for a moment and took off his suit's jacket, placing it on his chair. She looked up at him and his white shirt, his red tie and black slacks. He seemed uncomfortable still, but he kept on talking, "I had a happy childhood." He frowned, "So what about you, Miss Briefs?"

Gohan decided to take the opportunity to see if she could tell him about her life at home. Perhaps, he reasoned, he could better control her if he could understand her. Again in class she was a bit unruly, as though there was no conversation, and alone with him she was genial and more or less cooperative, like nothing had happened in class. It was hard to stay irked with her when she wasn't so very hard to handle alone, and it was hard to not get irked with her when he knew full and well that she could be managed when she was alone.

She shrugged, "I don't remember anything, really." She looked up, "I really don't. Isn't that kind of queer?"

He blinked a tad bit, "It is, because you're so young."

"I'm not that young, I wouldn't say." She shook her head a little bit. "But then again I seem young, because you're getting ready to die."

He laughed a little bit, "Oh, of course."

* * *

He was shocked at the woman rushing at him, "What did you do to her?"

Gohan blinked, almost dropping the papers that he had in his hand. "What are you talking about?"

"Bura Briefs turned this essay into me today." She handed the paper to Gohan, a sparkle in her keen brown eyes. The woman looked pensively through her bangs which framed her rounded face at Gohan. The resentment and distrust was apparent, and it made Gohan flinch. She was an old woman, with short, spiked salt and pepper hair.

The younger teacher looked at the woman, and she nodded at the paper, wanting him to read through the work. Gohan felt somewhat guilty, knowing how Bura was so stubbornly refusing to let him review it before. He felt a little bit of dread in his stomach as he looked down at the paper, grabbing his glasses on his desk to read through it. His expression softened as he read over the introduction to the thesis, and found it to be so... poetic he didn't want to stop. He looked up at her and she nodded to him.

"Did you write this for her, Gohan?" she asked.

"Lily, I sat with her and she wrote it." Gohan shook his head, a bit aggravated that the old, plump woman would suggest something. He wanted to tell her that her lavender frock did not quite suit her, but he held in the laughter. Instead, he solemnly shook his head, "Maybe she really is as bright as they say she is."

"I have been teaching this girl for three years and I think," she huffed, "I know what her writing style is like."

Gohan sourly looked at her, hating her for wasting his conference period. _I wouldn't want to write anything for you if you'd react like that to it either. _He looked at her, shrugging, "Lily, I don't know what to tell you, she wrote it."

"But it's good. It's good and it's early."

"Look, I think that I can really help her. Just don't say anything. It looks like she aced this one, though," Gohan flipped through the essay, thumbing through a few different paragraphs.

The literature teacher snatched the essay out of his skilled hands, "You don't know anything," she huffed. And with that, she exited.

_Wow. What a bitch. Bura, we'll prove her wrong about you._

* * *

"So you turned in your essay?" He looked up at her from his desk as she came in.

His glasses glinted in the light. She shrugged a little bit, unwilling to be defeated by his cocky attitude, "I just turned in what I did yesterday. It's not like I finished it."

_Little liar! _He scoffed to himself, knowing full and well it had been completed during the detention session the day before. But he tried to look on at her seriously, not quite willing to let her know that he knew. He almost had respect for the little facade she had going on, "Did you see that terribly ugly frilly _thing _that Mrs. Pittans was wearing?" He recalled the ugly lavender dress.

Bura held her mouth, trying to not laugh as hard as she wanted to. "I know it was so terrible!"

Gohan held out his hand and a high five was administered. He didn't know why, but he made the comment because she would appreciate it and for no other reason. The two grinned at each other dumbly for a moment at the expense of the literature teacher.

Bura cut off the silence as she popped the top of her soda. He smiled a little bit knowingly, cherry soda. "So what are we going to do today, Profe?"

He sighed and looked up, "Well, you could do your homework for my class for once?" The suggestion fell on deaf ears, he was sure. She really didn't ever, ever do her homework for his class. It never came as a surprise.

She seemed to be shuffling through her papers and then sighed, put them to the side, and shook her head, "I don't want to. I don't feel like it."

He knew that it couldn't always be entirely easy. "Miss Briefs, you know, you're in here as a punishment for your actions. You can't just decide the way that things are. You have to do things that you don't always want to do."

She looked down at the math worksheet, "I don't want to. I hate math so much."

_Oh, I know! _Gohan sighed to himself a bit. He didn't exactly know where to go from there. Talking to her seemed to help, "But look, this is really easy. I showed you guys how to do that in class."

Her exasperated glance only exhibited her resistance more appropriately. She took a sip of her soda, "But you made me work all yesterday and the day before that. I don't want to. It's not like it'll help my grade."

"Anything can help with _your _grade." Gohan cocked a brow, crossing his brow. She flushed a little bit. Gohan didn't seem to be paying attention to her, "Man, why is it so hot in here always?"

"I don't know. It's always so cold in the chem lab." Bura shrugged.

Gohan rolled up his sleeves. It was the first time that Bura saw his arms bare. He looked on with difficulty as he got them up about half way. The fabric was tight around his muscles. She looked surprised for a moment, but didn't quite know how to address the subject of her surprise. He half-guessed it, "I used to be into martial arts. I'm not exactly the weakling little bookworm that you think I am."

"I didn't say anything at all." Bura shook her head a little bit, faking the innocent look she often did.

He grinned despite himself, but added, "You really didn't have to. I could see it, that sarcasm in those eyes of yours."

For some reason, she really liked the way he said that, _those eyes of yours, _but she didn't do much other than smile. She found herself enjoying the afternoon, she felt in her own way liberated or safe or both in his room. It didn't feel stifling. His board had been freshly erased, so no damned math problems on it to trouble her, and he had that lovely large window behind him. She always loved to look out those windows. "I bet they give the perfect view out onto the city at night."

Gohan shrugged, "I'm not here at night very often, but I guess it would. I've always liked wood more than metal," he remarked, "So I kind of would prefer a view of trees or something. But it's better than the last school I worked at. There are no windows at all there, I tried to bring a plant in because it was depressing, and then the plant died."

Bura couldn't hold in her laughter. He took advantage of this and allowed himself time to slip in and start pointing at math problems. She glared at him, but began working very slowly and deliberately on the problem set before her.

She must've been a little bit irritated with him: she didn't need help on one of them, sitting in her own seething sort of silence that was uncomfortable and a tad bit unnerving, and when she turned it in to him as she was leaving, he checked it and noticed she got every problem correct.

He smiled as he saw the can of cherry soda in the trash. He didn't know why it made him smile. It just did.

* * *

She moved to lean over his desk, and smiled at him. He looked at her, rolled his eyes, and looked back down to the papers he was grading. After a few moments, he felt a little bit nervous and asked, "So are you enjoying yourself?"

"Immensely," she nodded brightly, "So who do you think is going to ask me to fall dance?"

Gohan looked up, squinting a bit at the question. He didn't exactly appreciate her being distracted with fall dance, not when she had a chemistry test the next day. He looked over at the text book, pointing at it with his glasses.

She smiled sweetly at him, "I think that going to get my dress would be a good idea."

"Not right now, it's not. Come on, Bura, you know you're not going to study when you get home. Just try to go over the problems a little bit, for me?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest. He barely caught himself referring to her as Bura and not his usual 'Miss Briefs.' He didn't exactly feel they were close enough to be that inviting, and after acting out a good deal in class (likely to make up for her being forced to do her math homework the day before) he was a bit irate with her as it was. Even so that smile was contagious. He found himself resenting it, just because he knew that he needed to reinforce the punishment as punishment. "Fine, I think that if you're not going to study chemistry," He came around his desk, standing in front of her with a smile on his face that made her uneasy, "I think we're going to do something else?"

"Something fun?" She tried to perk up a little bit, but looked at him without trust in her expression.

"Miss Briefs, I think that you are done with chemistry," He slammed her book shut and she flinched a little bit, "And I think it's time to recall that you're in here for smoking in class. So I want you to know exactly what it is that cigarettes do to your lungs. So we're going to go down to the bio hall and I think they're got a pig's lung in there that simulates a smoker's lung and we're going to look at it and I want you to write a paragraph for me as to how utterly disgusting that is."

Bura didn't look too pleased, but he'd managed to peel her out of her desk and before she knew it they were on the stairs towards the science and health halls. "What a field trip, Profe." She sourly noted. It barely seemed to be better than studying for chemistry.

"And furthermore, maybe your attendance in PE would be better if you didn't have all of that mess in your lungs." Gohan put his glasses on sharply and he smiled as they crossed the halls. Finally, he got to the room he seemed to be looking for, pulled out a set of keys, unlocked it, and flicked on the light. All of the lab professors seemed to be gone, just as well, he assumed. Gohan knew how to set up the experiment well enough.

He looked around while she sat on the counter. He half wanted to tell her to get off, but the other part of him knew that she was right when she managed to repeatedly assert that he was anal, and so he allowed her to, although he carefully watched through the corner of his eye to make sure that she didn't break anything. He showed her the pump, and put on a lab apron and gloves. "Watch this," he pointed to the slab. When he pushed the pump, she saw how the regular pink lung inflated like a balloon. She took a peculiar sort of interest in it.

"Now, look at this." He pulled out of its jar a blackened lung, "This is the simulated smoker's lung. Put on some gloves and touch this hard spot right here," he pointed.

"I don't want to, it smells bad." she whine, but his cocked brow told her that she ought to, and so she did. "Wow, what is that?"

"It's what you're doing to your lungs. Look, it doesn't expand correctly at all. You're so young and you're going to have to live with that for the rest of your life. It's pretty gross. And besides, have you seen women that smoke? Look at their wrinkles. And yellow teeth. And it smells gross." Gohan looked at her. He felt almost as though he was making a sell.

She seemed a little bit affected by the demonstration. He gave her a reassuring smile, "So those cigarettes in your purse, do you want to throw them away now?"

She looked at him, defiance crossing her young, pretty face. She didn't have to say anything, and she had too much pride to bother with explaining how she didn't want to ever smoke again.

The walk back to his room was quiet, but thoughtful. And every time Gohan was a step ahead of Bura, Bura would take a larger step to try to keep up with his fast pace. He liked it, they had two different rhythms, and yet they managed to keep pace. That was why he didn't try to slow down, why she seemed to like it too.

* * *

She had to admit it: she was thinking about him.

He was handsome.

A mature sort of handsome, truly. As she walked down the streets towards home, for she didn't feel like riding that afternoon, she thought on it. His muscles, his smile, the way that he made fun of her when they were alone. There was something she liked about him, that arrogance that he could barely contain. Profe Son could barely hold it in, she knew and loved that he thought he was a cut above the rest. He was so obvious with everything he did.

Part of her couldn't blame him. He had extensive knowledge about everything. She didn't know if she'd ever met anyone quite as bright as he. She was surrounded by geniuses, so it was a bit dramatic of her to go that far, but the way he spoke to her, the way he spoke, it always accentuated how cultured he was and how he actually had a good idea as to what he was talking about.

She enjoyed the fresh breath of air, and after the pig-lung incident, she really appreciated every breath of air she got. She looked around. The city was so opening to her, so inviting, and she thought she'd go home late after enjoying a cup of coffee and maybe browsed for her gown for the dance.

An architect's dream, the beautiful mastery of the buildings about her, it all conveyed a mood, a style, a lifestyle... and she loved it. And she felt a positivity she hadn't in a while.

"Hey, beautiful."

She twirled around to face a young man. He was attractive enough with spiked black, short hair. He had intense eyes, and everything from his denim to his teeth seemed to be well put together. "Oh, hey there."

His voice was quiet and deep and he gave her a grin, "So what are you doing all the way out here all alone?"

The girl shrugged a bit, feeling that giddiness inside that one feels when being chased. And the chase was on. Rumor had it that he was wanting to ask her out, and she was pleased that he would be her newest conquest, about as pleased that he seemed that she should be his. "I just felt like walking home and then I was thinking about going out."

"But now I'm here." He said, raising a brow, inviting her to invite him.

She flashed him a grin, "So you are. Did you want to join me?"

* * *

Friday. Ah, their first Friday. She looked around excitedly, as though ready to jump up at any moment. He found it hard to think sourly of the night that was ahead of him (Chinese takeout on the couch). "You caaan't possibly expect me to do anything today, I'm too excited!" She whined.

"And why is that?" He looked up from a book. His tone was dull, not that it worked often but he tried to be dull to bring her enthusiasm down a little bit.

She smiled at him, tilting her head to the side a little bit, "I'm going to a party."

"Party, eh? Are you going to keep out of trouble?" He highly doubted it. He raised a brow at her and set down his pen.

Bura nodded a little bit, "It's going to be a lot of fun. And I think I did well on the chemistry test! Oh, let me go early, Profe!"

_Profe. _That's what she now called him. He laughed a little as he shook his head. "Is there some boy you're trying to get to?"

Bura leaned to the side a little bit, grinning widely, "Maaybe." She seemed so excited. He did envy that excitement. He grinned over his book, deciding to tease her a little bit about this new boy of hers.

"You always seem to have a new boy, Miss Briefs. Maybe you should give it a rest for a little while."

"But he's really fun to be around!" She smiled, "He's going to ask me to go to the fall dance with him tonight."

Gohan opted to let the girl have her dignity. He laughed at her for a bit until she, in such good humor herself, set down her cherry soda and put her fists on her hips, mocking an aggravated expression. It only made him grin at her more, trying to stifle the laughter he felt inside. He could just imagine her with another block-headed boy that submitted to her every whim. On the inside he felt a bit of worry for her, he wanted to make sure in some way that she wasn't going to go to some party that would hurt her, but he had no way of knowing. He had no way of checking up on her.

The professor bit his lip. He'd hate to see her hurt. They became engaged in a conversation about something he wasn't entirely paying attention to, and when it was about time to go, he felt the urge to take out a sticky note and write his cell phone number on it. "If you need anything..." he assured her.

She looked at him, and then at the bright green slip of paper. "Wow, Profe, does that mean you don't hate me?"

"Don't go that far, girlie." He shook his head, but his smile betrayed him.

Before she knew it, the time had passed. He managed to get her to do a problem or so of her math homework, but she was more adept at distracting her than he gave her credit for. As she walked out of the class room, she slipped her hand in her pocket and let the tips of her pale fingers touch the paper he'd written his number on.

She pulled it out right as she was passing a trash can and half considered throwing away the number. But on the other hand, she pulled out her cell phone and programmed his number in.

* * *

-CL


	3. Disaster: Three

**Disaster**

But Bura didn't call him, and after he waited somewhat anxiously for some sign that she was at least alright, he eventually allowed himself to fall into a deep, Friday-night, well deserved sleep. He reflected that night over the great accomplishments that he'd managed. He really did take some sort of pride in the fact that he had her lit teacher come up to him and accuse him of writing for her. He took some time to think about the fact that Bura really was hidden potential, sitting there, waiting to be realized, and it made him feel sad that it seemed like everyone was giving up on her.

At the same time, their relationship was somewhat rocky. Bura wasn't anywhere near the well behaved student that he hoped to eventually encourage her to become. His victories were both small and slight, but he got her to do some work, and that was enough. He smiled brightly when he felt his wife setting a blanket on him at about two. He looked up at her with his big, dark eyes, and she was a bit startled to see that he'd waken up. "I just got in," she smiled, stroking his cheek a little bit. "I'm sorry I missed dinner."

Gohan smiled at her, "Don't you even worry about, Videl." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her down with him. They lay together on the couch for a few golden moments. She looked over at him with a grin on her face, and he let out a bit of a smile, "What is it?"

"You seem so… pleased with yourself, what's been going on?" She asked, giving him a teasing smile.

Gohan laughed, but he cut any words of Bura off in his throat. Somehow she didn't belong in his bedroom, or in conversation with his wife. "I just love you," he said with a grin.

"I love you." She beamed at him, "And you smell nice, Honey. I love it when you wear that." And he felt her nuzzle his neck, and something about it was adorable. No complaints about the couch or the evidence of the Chinese food, nothing. She didn't even ask where Pan was, she just let her head move down to rest against his chest. Gohan tried to calm the little beast that she'd woken up, the roused feeling within him that he wanted to have intercourse with her for the first time in months. He did not voice his complaint: she wouldn't have heard him anyway, asleep in her suit on his chest. He just enjoyed the feeling of their bodies together, no matter how clothed. Those desires could wait. He lay there awake for what felt like a long time, just enjoying her, and when he knew she was fast asleep, he picked her up and took her to the bedroom. She was practically weightless, and he adored her.

* * *

"So how was your party, Miss Briefs?" He asked as she came in the door, closing it behind her. He had to bite his lip to not ask her when she came into his class before, but he knew by this point to not expect so very much from her. She was a curious little thing and it was almost as though there were two of her: the one that he liked, and the one that he didn't. He tried to be accepting of his fate but constantly found himself admitting that he was more than a little bitter over her behavior.

"It was a lot of fun." She smiled, sitting down on the desk, crossing her legs and setting her palms on her knees. When she was comfortable, she spoke to him, "We talked the entire time. Everything else was lame. The people were stupid and the music was bad. But he and I, we spent the whole time talking to each other."

"I bet that was loads of fun." He took off his glasses to examine her. She seemed to be in a good mood. "So what are we doing today, Miss Briefs?" He looked at her with that glint in his eye that he always managed to get when he was trying to trick her into doing her homework. She sighed a little bit and to his surprise, she looked in her bag and pulled out a notebook.

"I guess I need to take some notes for psychology." She pulled out a pen dutifully, sighing to herself. He always knew just what to say to spoil a potentially good conversation. That was the problem with Profe, he didn't just let people have fun.

"Psych, eh? That must be an interesting course." Gohan thoughtfully stated to the window. He looked over her and gave her a reassuring look, the look he would give her that stated that he _knew_ she didn't want to work, and he just didn't care. She'd just have to do it anyway. It was a little bit funny, to both of them, but not too much.

Bura looked back on the course, "Well right now we're studying the brain, what with the neurons and the synapses, all that good stuff. I don't really think that's all that interesting, but I know when we get further into the course, especially the conformity experiments, I'll get more interested."

Gohan nodded a bit, "I didn't like studying that all too much myself, not in comparison to the experiments. Have you studied those before, or do you just want to learn about them?"

"Well, I've got a pretty basic knowledge of them, I'd say. I don't think psychology is all Freud, which is something in itself. Most of the other kids in my class can't even get over Oedipus. It's kind of irritating." She looked down at the textbook to begin drawing a diagram in her notebook.

"I'd say," Gohan nodded, "Freud got way into sex. I mean, his theories are important but most people criticize them today because you can't really perform any experiment on them. But I think they're interesting. I enjoyed reading on his ideas about dreams."

"You've read into Freud's interpretations of dreams?" Bura asked. She felt a little uncomfortable her teacher had used the word 'sex' and she wasn't entirely sure why. She brushed off the feeling because of her own interest. She'd figured Gohan only excelled in math and science. He seemed to be a hugely logical sort of person, and psychology, although a science was way more interesting than either of those courses could ever be combined.

Gohan shrugged a little bit, "I mean, I have but I don't really remember a lot of it. Mostly the id, the ego, and the superego type stuff. The id and the unconscious mind are of course the most interesting. I mean, what you want underneath what you want, what you're feeling underneath what you're feeling-the very idea that there is 'you' and a 'true you' is always absolutely fascinating to me because no one really can say that they know or understand his or herself or why they do the things they do. But as intriguing as it all is, it's just so hard to be able to learn about who the 'true you' is, and like I said, that's the real criticism there. But in their own way, those conformity experiments sort of reinforce the idea that there's something underneath us that we can revert to in the right conditions, or that our minds can be socially reprogrammed. Have you by any chance heard about 'The Wave'?"

Bura had set down her pen and was listening intently. She shrugged a little bit, "Not that I can recall. What's that about?"

"Well, apparently a teacher wanted to be able to answer a question that his students had in regards to why Nazi Germany simply went along with it all. And the answer was that it's not so simple. They wanted to know why no one stood up to the Nazis, obviously what was happening wasn't right. And the teacher conducted an experiment by making something of a club that he called the Wave. At the end it's kind of chilling because he makes them make a hand motion that's very similar to the Nazi salute, and then he plays for them a clip of the Nazis. It's really very interesting, because the kids go so far as to hurting each other over this club because they in such a small amount of time were pretty much... brainwashed."

She stared at him, pensive. Both of them were quiet for a few moments. He glanced down at her paper and felt an awkward surge of pride when he saw the paper was almost full.

Gohan looked at the clock, "Miss Briefs, your detention is up. I'll sign your slip now."

Bura felt an awkward jerk in her stomach. She wanted to ask to stay. She wanted to talk to him more about interesting things. But ashamed of herself and the idea that she could be fond of Profe, she just handed him the slip and left the room. Gohan smiled a bit to himself, the way one smiles after having a truly interesting discussion.

* * *

Bura came in to class late the following day. Gohan looked up at her, cleared his throat, and she gave him something of a half-smile. She innocently put her hands up as to offer peace. The rest of the class practically began to roar in conversation. Inwardly he sighed. With his most firm voice, he managed, "Miss Briefs, how would you like to, instead of coming to detention every day after school, be banned from every dance for the rest of the year?"

She looked at him with venom in her eyes. . She'd come to see Gohan as something of an ally, and even after her first week of him she enjoyed talking to him. She didn't think he would really care that she came in late or did whatever she needed to do. She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Half of her registered that he wouldn't go through with it, it was just something to show to the class, but she had her own show to keep up and she flicked her hair to the side and sat down very delicately at her desk, which had very suddenly changed from being at the back of the room to the front by his desk where she sat during detention.

He felt the final twitch of irritation: sheer indignation. She'd really done it, and he felt quite done with her, being the spoiled brat that she was, being two different people at once. He was sick of it, and finally, he stated, "Get out of my class, Miss Briefs. We'll just have to see."

"See if you see me." She hissed as she left the room, slamming the door behind her. The boys echoed each other as they made their obnoxious noises and Gohan silenced them with little more than a dark glance. Without Bura, there was that quiet, tense, awkward silence in his class. Or maybe it was because they were frightened that he was literally shaking in anger.

* * *

He looked out at her. She was leaning against a set of lockers, arms crossed over her chest. The cross look on her face told him to be on guard, but otherwise he was too far gone, too angry himself, to try and contain himself. She looked up at him, "I cannot believe that you would try to embarrass me in front of everyone!"

"Miss Briefs, our class is not _everyone_. It's thirty people."

"And would you **stop**," Her voice jerked with her body in irritation and he flinched, "Calling me that? Huh? Can you just call me Bra? Is it that hard?"

"I call you Miss Briefs because that is the proper way to address you, as a young lady, and you know full and well that despite all of your annoying little attempts to make yourself undistinguished and terrible when it all comes down to it, you are a little lady indeed!"

"I'm not like you," Bra said, almost hysterical, "I'm not putting on any acts at all!"

"And what act, Bura, do you think I've got going on?"

"You, Professor Son, like me way more than you want to admit and it's just not okay with you!"

"It's plenty okay with me!" He hissed, taking hold of her arm firmly before he could catch himself.

She looked at him with a new, fueled rage in her eyes, "I don't believe you."

"And," He said, calming down a little bit as he let go of her arm, "you're the one that's not okay with people knowing that you are actually a very bright, intelligent girl. Why do you dumb yourself down for all of those stupid little children?"

"Because I'm not my brother and I don't want to be an engineer or a CEO or a genius! I don't want to be known for traits that other people in my family have already got very well covered, thank you!"

"I have never met someone as beautiful and intelligent as you at your age, and that is quite an accomplishment and it is a **damned** shame that you're just giving it up to appear a certain way to other people!"

Bura's eyes widened. Son Gohan, swearing? She stared at him for a moment and slipping away from him, she said, "I like having a good time." She tried to hiss the words at him or be catty and mean, but her voice was very soft. She brushed past him, not looking back. When she sat on her bed that night, hot faced, somehow of all the things he'd said and done her mind kept circling back to the part where he called her beautiful.

She didn't go to detention that afternoon, but he signed her slip anyway. He stared at his perfect, clean signature on the paper.

* * *

The following day the bell rang. He waited two minutes, five minutes, half the class through, and she wasn't there. He found himself stressing more and more as the seconds passed. He poked his head out the door as his class became consumed, working on a quiz. He briefly asked a neighboring teacher to keep watch over his class as he walked the halls, trying to find her.

That morning he _thought_ he saw her, standing with her friends, jerking her head with irritation and anger to the side when he moved by her. He looked around. The halls were mostly empty. Damn near desperation, he looked out a window, and there she was, sitting on by the fountain on some boy's lap. He'd never asked her which athlete was her new boy, and he'd never thought to. But it was pretty obvious who this one was: Tu Leon.

Gohan particularly disliked this boy. One of the young man's other recent conquests had been his own dear daughter. Leon left Pan with a broken heart and a bitterness that never completely subsided. Girls, all fighting over boys that just wanted to hurt them.

He was handsome, for a little punk, Gohan supposed, but both Pan and Bura could have done way better. As he made his way out to the courtyard, the sight he found made him nearly ill. Something in him felt about ready to erupt at the sight of them feverishly touching each other right there, right during the time that he held something of a claim over her presence, right with _that _boy. Logic for the moment did not appeal to Gohan, and he could not reason enough to think that Bura had no idea of the past between Leon and Pan.

She didn't even know that only a moment before he'd been rehearsing an apology to the young girl, and he didn't even think he had anything to be sorry for.

No, anger was the only thing that he registered in his mind as he marched out past the trees and shrubbery, clean and well-manicured. She heard him first, and tilted her head to the side to look at him. Her eyes glittered with triumph within a moment, but when she saw the terrible, black look on her face, something in her sobered very slightly. "Tu, go to class." He looked at the boy, and the young man stood up with a half smirk resting on his lips.

He flexed his young boy muscles and cracked his young boy neck, "I am tired of you, Old Man."

The sarcastic part of Gohan was less than impressed at the display.

Bura barely understood the situation at hand but she suddenly seemed alarmed. She stood, shaking her head. "Hey, hey, come on."

"No, Bura. I'm sick of this guy thinking that he can just tell people what to do!" The boy tore off his shirt. Despite herself, Bura found herself eyeing the muscles. Gohan felt himself a little sick at the absurdity of it all. He wanted laugh at the kid, but instead found himself more than a little annoyed with Bra's, and to a lesser extent Pan's choice in red-blooded, drug-head morons as boyfriends.

_Typical little punk. _Gohan was unimpressed. The boy lunged at Gohan, and Bura opened her mouth. She didn't want Gohan to get hurt, even if he did deserve it for being absolutely horrible to her. He seemed so fragile to her. She wanted Leon to stop, and they could just walk away. He was every bit as buff as he looked, and she didn't to witness Gohan enduring a sample of her boyfriend's strength. She'd seen this sort of thing too many times before. Gohan, who looked old and tired and thin compared to Leon, seemed in his own way patient, but she felt sorry for him.

But an odd little noise escaped from Leon's perfect lips. She opened her eyes and saw that her Profe easily handled Leon in his arms. He, red in the face, flustered and humiliated, was struggling wildly while Gohan glared down at her, "Go to the math department office, Miss Briefs."

While he was speaking to her, he must have softened a little bit, because Leon slipped from the grasp and was even able to land a blow clean on Gohan's cheek. Gohan firmly took the boy's fist and twisted it none-too-gently behind his back. He began marching the boy away, spitting a little blood out to the side, and giving Bura a look that indicated that she was going to the math office and she was about to have a very serious heart to heart with her Profe.

* * *

When she heard Gohan's footsteps, she immediately regretted her obedience. As she sat there, she had been considering hard the ideas before her, that she felt terribly about what happened. She looked at her lap sheepishly when he entered and she avoided him even when she flinched at the sound of the door click lock. She felt his angry presence. It was seething and t was all directed at her. She'd never felt like this before, she'd never had to sit down and talk to an angry authority figure. Largely an uncomfortable situation, she noted, she was torn between indignation and hurt and guilt, but at the same time, expecting him to yell at her, she didn't feel quite so bad.

No, the true terrible feelings didn't occur until she heard nothing at all. And it stayed that way for a few moments, nothing but breathing and shuffling of papers and air coming out of the vent above. She shivered, it was cold in the small room, exactly as cold as his eyes staring hard on her. She waited for him to say something, anything, because she herself had no idea as to what to say. When moments passed and she deemed them to be too long, she asked with a quiet, uncertain voice, "Did he hurt you?"

"He didn't hurt me at all, Bura." His voice was so stone cold, so mechanical that Bura knew the words he spoke to be the truth of the matter. She looked at him uncomfortably, painful silence enclosed them both. She didn't know what to say. Wasn't he just supposed to start ranting at her?

Bura looked down at her lap. She hadn't meant for this to happen, she glanced up at the purple of a bruise forming on his cheek, and then her eyes swept over his lips, so angry they formed a thin line, but she did not meet his eyes. No, she just shivered in the cold math room and she looked around, hoping for something of an escape. Uncomfortable and quiet and quiet and quiet, finally she blurted out, "Look, I'm sorry I skipped class, okay?"

"I just don't know what to do with you, honestly." He said, and for the first time Bra felt like Gohan was saying exactly what was on his mind. Maybe the blank look in her eyes encouraged him, because he found he liked the honesty and continued, "I mean, I thought we had a pretty productive week. Then I find you with a little _jackass_, making out in the courtyard. But you do one thing in detention and another thing in class and I just don't know how to get you to behave. And the really, funny thing, is that across the school I've already been labeled as your keeper. Pets are kept Bura, and apparently you're the unruly one of the school. I mean, I've got your teachers coming up to me in my lunch period, telling me when they have assignments done because they want to see you do them. And then when I'm at home and I should be spending time with my wife and daughter I'm sitting there trying to figure out how to make you behave, brooding over my failures, because that's what you're really making me feel like here. I obviously have to raise you here because no one else is up to doing it, and I'm doing a pretty bad job."

She looked around, trying to avoid his blazing black eyes. She looked away. Again she didn't know what to say. She felt a pang of shame but more-so hurt at his harsh words. He hadn't meant to hurt her, she was sure, but the implication of his words, that she was just something that he was being forced to tame and control was hard for her to swallow, and worst of all it seemed to confirm many of her fears. "So what do you want me to say?" she asked, in a little voice once she found the courage to ask.

"I think I've run out of things to say, so I think we're not going to say anything at all." Gohan stated seriously, looking square at her so that she could not avoid his gaze.

"Then what are we going to do?" She asked timidly, looking at her hands in her lap, noticing how small they seemed. She shivered again when a fresh influx of air shifted out of the vent.

Gohan sighed and pulled his jacket off. He wrapped it around her without a word, and then he let the silence continue for a few seconds even after she mumbled a thank-you for it. She was looking down. He pulled out a piece of paper, "I want you to write on here exactly what you think should happen. I want you to write what you want to happen, what you think you deserve to happen, and what you absolutely do not want to happen. You have the rest of the day and I guess I'm going to bring you up your lunch. You're exempt from your classes, if anything significant happened then in detention this afternoon I'll help you make it up. I'm going back to conducting my class. Take this very seriously, Miss Briefs."

* * *

Somehow trying to make up with Gohan was way worse than trying to make amends with any friends she'd ever attempted to make up with. He came by to feed her lunch, and left as promptly as he entered, and then he came back to tell her that the final bell had sounded and detention would begin soon. She followed him with her sheet of paper clutched in hand. When they entered his room, she sat down at a desk far in the back away from his desk. Neither made comment on it, but both knew that the distance between them had been created. He set his quiz before her, and she took it. It only took her ten minutes to finish, and he graded it.

The irritated shaking of his head only confirmed that she'd done very well on it. "Have you kept up with your readings in Literature?" Gohan asked, loudly, such that she could hear him from the back of the room where she was hiding from him without much success even though it seemed forced and unnecessary.

"Yes, I've kept up." Bura said. She sighed a bit inside.

Gohan opened a book and glanced down at it, "Good, what happened in chapter fifteen?" Bura bit her lip and flushed. Gohan cocked a brow. He was too angry to be amused. "Don't lie to me, little girl."

"Okay, okay." She reached down into her book bag. _So what, does he just know everything, now? How could a math teacher be into literature as well? _Half an hour passed and Bura closed the book. "I'm caught up."

Gohan looked about, picking up a piece of paper, "Running in phys ed, the influence of drugs on the brain in psychology, sociology studied class theory, chemistry: ions and the such, music theory said not to bother, _that's interesting_, art history had a review on the Renaissance…"

"Okay." Bura nodded stiffly. She couldn't escape from the feeling deep in her gut that she'd done something very, very wrong. "I finished my thing, Profe-ssor Son."

Gohan nodded, "Let's hear it. What is it that you don't want, Miss Briefs?"

Bura swallowed, "I just don't want to miss the dances, or to be yelled at in front of all my friends. And I guess I don't want to be expelled. Or things like that." She looked around, unsure what she was supposed to say.

"Alright," He accepted, and she was grateful for this, "And what is it that you think that you deserve?"

Bura swallowed. "I think that I deserve to be in detention, probably. And probably other things, too…?" This was one of the hardest ones. She didn't know what to say or how to say it. She didn't want to ask for punishment, but she knew she was expected to. She hoped that he would easily accept her answer, for all of its faults and lack of thought.

And he did. He nodded calmly, leaning against his desk. He didn't even look at her, not until he looked at her for his last question, and he asked it in a peculiar tone, "And what is it that you want?"

She hadn't expected him to ask with that tone. She looked about in the air, as if trying to find the answer he wanted so she could give it to him and be done with it. Things seemed so different now, so hard to answer. "I don't kn... I... nothing, I don't _need_ anything." She was beginning to become a bit flustered with the entire ordeal. She looked over at him, his eyes scanning her, looking her up and down, she waited for him to tell her she was expelled, she waited for him to tell her anything.

"I wouldn't ask you to do something that I can't do myself. So I made a list of things too." He turned the page and looked down. "I don't want you to develop lung cancer. I don't want you to be used as a sex object by stupid teenage boys that don't know what they're doing. I don't want you to keep dumbing yourself down for the sake of popularity."

She stared at him widely.

"What do I think you deserve? I think you deserve the knowledge that I think, I hope, you crave. I think that you deserve happiness. You can have all of the money in the world and all of the power and all of the attention in the world, and you can act out if you absolutely have to, but I think that you deserve happiness and I know that none of those things are going to give that to you." Bra seemed almost shaken, staring down hard. He'd never seen her so quiet and sober. He continued, "And I also, on that note, think that you deserve a family that pays a little bit more attention to who you are and not what you do. I think that you deserve the world if you're willing to work for it, but everything is an ultimatum." Gohan was looking at her and not his page anymore, "And finally, what could I want from you?" His voice was very, very soft, and she was almost caught up in the tone and not the words, "I want you to work hard. I want you to do well in school like I know you can. I want you to reach your potential and then surpass it."

He crossed his arms over his chest and in the action, dropped his sheets of paper to the floor carelessly. He looked at her with a curious expression of both fondness and severity on his face, the most bizarre of combinations, and asked, "Now how shall we accomplish all of these things with so little time?"

* * *

The rest of the week she stayed after school in Gohan's room, sat at his desk, and she quietly, diligently worked on her homework. If he reminded her that she had a test, she didn't look at him with irritation. In class she tried to maintain a balance but for the most part had ignored Gohan's calls for her to come out of the closet as a huge intellectual. He didn't seem to understand that she actually enjoyed blind fun. She half felt like he was trying to age her just a little bit, and there came the very slight resistance.

But aside from this, there was not a power struggle in class. She did what she did and she did what he asked of her. In other class rooms she remained unruly, but Gohan was not particularly concerned with her behavior in other classes. He felt that he was doing enough of a favor for the entire school by having her do all of her homework.

Her friends noticed her prison, and they lamented the fact that this was a fairly permanent punishment. Bura shrugged them off, and Gohan saw that despite everything they looked up to her so much they could barely think without her. It must have been exhausting for her, always being leeched off of in such a way. It occurred to him that detention with him was an excuse to not have to be with them.

He regarded them as silly and dumb and had the creeping sensation of a feeling that she did as well and was merely refusing to admit so. And so his second week of being her keeper ended. And no more of her boyfriend was mentioned, even though he knew from gossip in other classes that they continued to date. He felt a tad bit betrayed by the gesture but she said nothing of it and he felt it to be improper, almost, to ask her about something like that without her bringing it up first.

The air was a little bit less friendly between them, but for the most part, life continued to move on. Patel called him into his office to congratulate him. Other teachers resented him just a tad bit. His wife came home a little more often, but still they had yet to make love, for she still seemed to face almost constant exhaustion. He saw Pan a bit more often, and for that he was grateful. Bura taught him to keep a close watch on his daughter, and he was very appreciative of the all-girls school she was attending.

* * *

Bura beamed at him over the books stacked neatly over his desk. He raised a brow, wondering what she was up to. The grin on her face surely couldn't be trusted, that was well enough, "Well? What is it?" He asked, looking back to his work before she could captivate him with that smile of hers.

"I'm bored." She looked at her homework and closed her notebook, "I can't think anymore, that test today killed my brain!" She looked at him, making movements with her arms to indicate exactly how drained she was.

Gohan looked at her, "It's not that much homework, I imagine you could finish it up in about ten minutes."

"But I'm _**bored.**_" She looked at him, resting her chin in her palms, "Talk to me."

Gohan blinked at her a little bit. What, had he just been recruited to be her personal entertainment as well? He shook his head, but couldn't help the tug of his lips. He realized that he was a little bit bored himself. This was an interesting development, "Well? What do you want?"

"I want you to _talk to me." _Bura looked at him pleasantly, "You know, like you used to. You told me about your wife and stuff. Talk to me."

Gohan frowned a bit, "Well that's really sort of putting me on the spot. What did you want me to say?"

Bura leaned back, biting her lip a bit, "Tell me about the funniest thing you've ever done."

He looked around, sighing inwardly. "I don't really know. I don't really have a lot of funny stories. I mean, when I was a kid I befriended a dinosaur and used to slice off part of his tail every morning when I made breakfast for myself."

"You... did what?" Bura frowned, attempting to register the information. "Profe, this just sounds weird. And… disgusting?"

He couldn't hold in the laugh at her reaction, "Okay, it wasn't that bad. I had this fun-with-nature sort of period in my life. My mom didn't so much approve, but my dad was away and for his friend decided that I had to live alone in the forest for a while. Martial arts coming of age type thing, I guess. So I had to fend for myself. I met this dino, and I just remember him being huge and intimidating. He tried to eat me day after day after day. So eventually I became sort of fond of him, but at first he would chase me all morning and night. I never killed him, because I liked him, but I would take slices of his tail to eat. It sounds a little bit barbaric, I'm sure, but it was a survival sort of thing."

Bura tried to imagine her professor as a child running wild and naked about some vast forest. She'd never seen the wild dinosaurs, just the domesticated ones that lived and worked in the cities, and those were rare too. She took out a chocolate bar and took a bite out of it. He looked at it for a half-second, and she smiled. "Did you want some?"

"Oh, no, that's fine." He waved her off, but she held the bar to his lips. He could see where her teeth sank into the treat. He bit around a corner, and looked up at her. Their eyes met. She blushed before he did and looked away. It was at that point that she recalled moments before she was imagining a younger version of him naked. Her mind tinkered for a half-second on the idea of him naked, and the fact that her mind registered it with some sort of admission of pleasure gave her the most divine embarrassment she'd ever experienced.

Gohan was ignorant of the string of thoughts that Bura'd tied together, but he did in his own right feel a bit uncomfortable. He tugged at his tie a little bit. "Well, I guess you're not going to do anything else. If you need to go, I understand."

A part of Bura felt unwilling to go once more. She looked down at the notebook. Was this the only way she could talk to him? She just wanted to talk to him. She just wanted to enjoy his company. She knew and believed deeply that behind her the role of teacher, Profe was a very amusing, very intelligent being that she could appreciate being around. She didn't want to feel unwanted or awkward, though, and so she looked out the window, "I really guess I should go."

He signed the slip and put it to the side. She smiled at it, and when she was headed out, and he returned to his desk to keep up with papers, she turned around and looked at him over her shoulder. He cocked a brow inquiringly, and she just smiled, amused with her own devices, "Profe?"

"Yes, Miss Briefs?"

"Don't die in your sleep, okay?"

"Sure thing."

* * *

It was certainly a truth that Bura did not particularly adore her friends in high school. As she walked down the courtyard to exit the campus, she was unaware that her professor was watching her with a curious grip on his chest, unaware as to why she stirred some odd sensation within the cavity that had been dull for many years. It was a dangerous feeling, he was sure, and he became somewhat determined to perhaps increase the distance between the two of them, as impossible as that now seemed.

His thoughts were interrupted, much to his irritation, as he saw a male walk up to her. Muscular moron that he was, Gohan scoffed to himself. He knew the type; he'd been unamused and unimpressed by the act since what felt like infancy. He was brawn and no brain, and all of his extra weight couldn't do much but create a small bruise on Gohan's cheek, and that was because Gohan knew that if he used even a fraction of his real strength he could easily accidentally kill the kid. And he wanted the punk to land a punch and get in trouble for it.

With a glare aimed at her insipid little boyfriend, he rubbed his cheek. His pride hurt at allowing him to land the blow more than anything, in retrospect, on virtue of the fact that now the kid thought that he could.

_Maybe I am getting slower, though_, he thought to himself. He'd quit with his training long ago. His father would surely be disappointed. Gohan smiled into the idea of training with his father again, and reached for his coat. He fished inside of his jacket for his cell phone. As he pulled it out, he looked through his address book. His mother's number had slipped his mind, much to his shame.

He had so little contact with his folks that he didn't even recall the number. It made him sigh. Gohan's brow quirked when he saw something very interesting programmed into his phone: Bura'd added her number into it. Under her name was the message: _We're going to be best friends. _

He laughed a little bit, turning back to the window. He felt the thunder's rumble of displaced irritation at the boy that was holding her in his arms, kissing her from her neck to her lips hotly. He wasn't even supposed to be on campus. He'd been suspended.

A more pure part of him blinked at it, and considered, '_Are you... jealo-' _as quickly as Gohan had the thought he slapped the blinds shut to the windows. He slapped the vision of the young couple and the thought away. He shook his head, shook it off rather gruffly, and moved on with his search for the number to reach his parents.

The dial tone droned on and he wondered when they would answer. Knowing his mother, it would take a bit of time. She hated dealing with technology, and she was the sort of woman to always keep herself busy. After what felt like forever, she answered, "Hello?"

Gohan smiled at the familiar voice, "Mother? Hello there. It's Gohan."

"Gohan? What a great surprise, Dear, I haven't spoken to you since December." Her voice was somewhat critical, but he knew that it was only out of love that she wanted to speak to him. He looked down sheepishly regardless.

"I know. I'm sorry. I really want to fix that, I want to make that better. Maybe I could come over for dinner tonight, huh?" Gohan looked at his watch, "If I hurry I could be there before sundown. I miss your cooking. I miss you mom, and dad."

Videl would be displeased, if she even made it home. She loved the idea of family dinners, but in practice they typically were massive failures that she rarely made it to and Pan was disinterested in entirely. Well, if those two could skip out on dinner then he could as well from time to time, he decided.

"Gohan, where's this all coming from?" ChiChi asked. From the sound of rustling pots he could practically taste the dinner she was preparing. "And I don't mind if you come over, but just know you'll be sharing with your father and we weren't expecting guests. You're always welcome home, Son."

He felt younger already. There was something so warm about his mother's tone, it was weird to admit that, as an adult, but he did. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his father blundering in. "Hey, Chi, what's for-hey, who're you talking to? Is that Goten? I wanna talk to -"

"No, no," the sound of slapping him away and a '_Hey! That hurt!' _that came surely from his father's smiling mouth.

"It's Gohan, dear, and he's coming over for dinner." ChiChi said rather informatively, and he could hear the rustling and excitement that came from his father.

"Oh! HIYA **Gohan**!"

The man could not do much other than laugh loudly at his father's interjection. His mother continued to shoo him off and away and in a rushed tone she stated, "Well, Son, just come on over. I'm about done. Your father says he wants to spar with you, so do try to change if you can, alright? And remember you don't have to if you don't want to, it's just your father, after all, and you know how he ge-"

"Sparring with Dad sounds great, Ma. I'll be sure to change right before I go, okay?" He used the words gently. He wanted her to know he missed them, he wanted to be around them.

"Gohan, is everything alright?" Her voice reflected that maternal concern she was so famous for. She frowned on the other line, beginning to pace a little bit, "I mean you call out of the blue and you never, ever want to spar anymore, not with your brother or your father... Has something happened?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I'll be over in a bit, okay, Mom?"

"Of course. I love you son..." Her voice trailed off with uncertainty and worry. The phone clicked and Son ChiChi stared at it for a moment. She looked at her goofy husband and could not even feign aggravation when he began to, do cartwheels across the house. Smelly as he was, likely dirty as well, she could not blame her husband for being excited that their son and granddaughter were coming over. And of course, Videl, but she generally remained quiet and polite. "And you!" ChiChi laughed a little bit, "You go wash up!"

"I can't, Chi!" Gokou appeared in front of her, lifting her up by her waist. She emitted a little squeak of surprise and then let out laughter, same as she would have when she was young. "I'm too excited!"

He gave her a very quick peck on the lips before he ran off somewhere else, such an excited child.

* * *

"I've got to go now, okay?" Bura peeled herself away from Leon, "But I'll see you later, okay?"

He looked disappointed, but allowed her the liberty of leaving. He tried to whine so that she would stay, but Bura was already in her aircar, making her way home. He just shook his head and let her go. She scared him, how quickly she could move.

Bura found herself dialing her dearest friend. She felt a confusion deep inside of her that needed to be resolved, and it was in these moments that she would seek out the help of Marron. Marron was quite a bit older than Bura, but they managed to form a bond that almost anyone could envy. With the phone in hand, she waited impatiently for her to answer the phone. "Bra-hey, what's up?"

The young woman was comforted to hear her close friend at the phone finally, "Hey. Not a lot. Did you want to go get coffee with me or something?"

"It's about dinner time. Did you just want to grab something to eat?" Marron suggested thoughtfully. And that's how she always was, comforting and thoughtful.

Bura nodded to the phone, "That would be fine. I'm right about to your place. Do you want to drive or walk?"

"Walk?" Marron asked incredulously. The word almost seemed foreign to her, the way that she spoke.

"Yes, walk. It's kind of a nice night." Bura said, laughing a little bit.

Marron looked uncertain with herself, even without seeing her, Bura could feel that expression on her face, "Well, sure, I guess."

"Alright, I'm about there." Bra repeated, clicking the phone off. She arrived quickly. Marron was standing outside of her apartment waiting for her. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her hips to the side, almost as though it were a mother questioning her daughter.

"You want to walk? You must be deep in thought. Talk to me, Bra. What is it that's on your mind? Is it that new guy of yours?" Marron asked as they headed out. She seemed almost giddy.

Neither had really decided where they were going, so similar to their lives. Two girls that loved each other as much as they would family, walking aimlessly on the cold indifferent streets of the city that wanted their money and their energy and their loyalty but ruthlessly gave nothing back as it continued to take.

Bura shoved her hands in her pockets. Marron knew at that moment something was off and her expression demanded an answer. The girl damned her friend for knowing her so well, "I just... I kind of think that I may have a crush on someone," Bra admitted, slowly. Marron's eyes lit up and Bra moved to amend her words quickly, "But really, it is only just a crush."

"This is all over a crush?"

"Well, okay, it's not about my boyfriend. I _have _a boyfriend and he's fun to talk to and to hang out with but he's not what I'm talking about here. I've been spending a lot of time with someone else lately. And he _can be _funny, and he is actually _sort of _cute in his own way. But it's just all so weird."

Marron tilted her head over her blonde hair to examine her friend, "You're not supposed to have a crush on this person, are you?"

"Not really."

"So is he unavailable?"

"Yes. Both emotionally and he's not single, not single at all." Bura admitted.

Marron looked at Bura, "I'm not going to pretend to understand. I'm trying to, though, honestly, because you're saying that he at times can be someone cool, someone that maybe you could be attracted to, but it seems to me that for the most part, it's not. Are you sure you're not just afraid of liking him because he's so unavailable?"

Bra frowned a little bit, "I guess that could be it, don't get me wrong," she quickly added, "I hope it's what it is. I just feel like there's the person that he shows me and the person that he is."

"And you are _very _attracted to the person that he is."

"Exactly!" Bura clapped her hands together, smiling at Marron.

The blonde let her thoughts wander for a moment, "So how long have you known this person?"

"Well, we've been talking, like close, for a few weeks now."

"So not even a month?" Marron asked.

"Not yet no," the other confirmed, shaking her head a little. "You think I'm jumping the gun, eh?"

"Just a little bit, but I know how easy it is to get excited about people. Especially you. Especially dashing, unavailable people."

Bura tried to imagine Gohan as dashing. The thought made her smile at his expense. "I just feel like... I don't know how I feel. We've gotten into a couple of nasty fights recently and we made up, but it's like, now I feel closer to him instead of wanting to be far, far away from him like I normally do."

"I see. So why did you guys fight?"

"Well, he's a little bit anal about some things. He's very into things being structured and done in a certain way, so he got mad at me for kind of blatantly not following those things." Marron frowned a little bit and Bura felt hesitant, knowing she'd just made Gohan sound significantly worse than he was, "And then he also got mad when I was outside kissing Leon. I mean, I don't think he was jealous or anything, but -"

"It doesn't really sound like someone I'd want to be with, Bura. I know you're trying to be vague, but listen to yourself talk." Marron shook her head decidedly. This 'new guy' she did not like, not so much at all. "And honestly, he's a guy. He wouldn't be angry that you're with another guy if he wasn't jealous. So there you go, he's not as emotionally, or at least as sexually unavailable as you asserted earlier. You could probably have him, but just remember what I've been saying. I don't think that you would be happy with this guy. He sounds like a real control freak."

Bura smiled a little bit, "You know what? He really is, when I think about it."

"I think you should forget it. Besides, your boyfriend is nice." Marron nodded a little bit with some sort of acceptance of Leon.

"I think I will." Bura nodded. She _would _forget about it. She knew she could count on Marron to talk her down.

* * *

-CL


	4. Disaster: Four

**Disaster**

He'd been paining himself over thoughts of Bura all night. She was a curious creature. As he sat at the table with his father, excited as he was to see them, enthralled as he was at the very idea, the implication that there would be just one more epic spar between father and son that would rock the trees and allow him to be free once more, he couldn't shake her from his thoughts. More than once did his mother curiously narrow her eyes and offer him food. And when she curiously narrowed her eyes in such a way and offered him food in such a way, what she was truly doing was offering him the opportunity to speak up about what was bothering him.

His actions did not escape his father either, his kind hearted, excited father. Gokou failed at a minor attempt at discretion when he asked his son what was wrong. The hardened professor felt his cheeks flush at the pair's apparent confusion that their son came to visit them alone.

The two knew well enough that Videl had her own life and that included their son and that meant that they had little precious time to see and love their oldest son. There was the faint, good-hearted, optimistic idea present that maybe their daughter-in-law did not like them, but they never openly suggested it to Gohan. Old as he was, they seemed to want to protect him from something, even if that meant taking themselves out of the equation altogether.

He ate more slowly than they'd ever seen him eat, he spoke with gestures that they never saw him use. Their son was truly domesticated and they felt that they missed him, but at the same time, there was his smile no matter how it seemed changed by whatever was on his mind, and there were his eyes, always kind and open, and there was his fighter's spirit, finally awakened when the men finished their meals and stepped outside. ChiChi gave a warning for the two to be careful, and they were off.

Gokou enjoyed the knowledge that Gohan was, for the most part, in better shape than his youngest son, or so he tried to look at it with such positivity. Gohan had always been stronger than Goten, the point that Goten had to excel and become stronger than his brother was short-lived, and Goten moved on to better things like girls and being a student.

In reality Gohan could have slipped more than Goten did, but Gohan quickly sped up, and even when he felt out of breath and exhausted, he ignored his mother's protests and complaints that the two should turn in. They kept fighting until dusk, with his father and in the sun, and when they were done, they were bloodied and bruised and as close as ever.

Gohan felt once more a connection with nature, the one that he'd thought of from time to time, caged in his house or at work. It felt so amazing, so liberating, to make that a reality.

* * *

The week of the fall dance was passing quickly, like ice melting in the sun, and Gohan felt content if half of his class finished any of the assignments at all. Bura, among the group, seemed to be just as distracted by things like nails and hair and dresses. Gohan felt some sort of disgust at it all. The man found he was pleased with himself when he one day received an email from Capsule Corporations, Bulma Briefs, of course, that read bold and profoundly: **I received my daughter's progress report last night. I don't know what you've been doing but she hasn't done this well in years. Keep up the good work, and don't let that weasel Patel take credit for what I know very well you alone are doing. BB. **

He smiled a little bit to himself at the praise, perhaps the woman was not as tough as she seemed. Bura certainly wasn't.

He did know that it was too late and already he'd submitted to the worst type of manipulation there was: those eyes, those big, laughing eyes of hers that would shift over to his desk and she would demand that he talk to her or tell her stories until not much homework at all was being done and they still had quite a good time. If he made a reference to the dirty tricks she played, she would just look innocent, and if he didn't then she'd let him not make her do anything at all.

He knew full and well he'd completely lost control over her academically, but maybe because she wanted him to look good, or maybe because she appreciated the benefits of doing well, for the most part her work got turned in. Teachers no longer had to pass her just to avoid conflict with her mother (although they would still come every few days to remind Gohan what he needed to remind Bura to do).

_"It's absurd, how she only responds to you," _Mrs. Pittans huffed one day. Gohan and Bura would later laugh and joke at her expense. She was a crazy, old, ornery, bitter woman and neither quite liked her at all. Although, Gohan admitted to himself that Bura pushed her temper. It seemed that the girl went out of her way to irritate the woman. And the woman went out of her way to try to get as close to failing Bura as possible. Gohan found that he wouldn't have it. When Bura brought back her beautiful, delicately written, poetic essay with a D written on it, Gohan found himself marching to Patel on her behalf.

Like a knight that finally found the lady he had to protect, Gohan was constantly at odds with her literature teacher, constantly fighting for every grade that she gave her. He half-suggested to Patel that Bura be switched into another class just because Pittans was so disagreeably jealous of Bura. And it was: it was all jealousy, an absurd, ridiculous jealousy. Gohan had no idea as to how Bura could have ever possibly handled that irritating woman on her own. Life without the little troublemaker seemed impossible now.

Bura was chattering away about how excited she was about the dance. Gohan found himself torn between sourly dreading the dance and wanting it all to be over with. As an instructor, all of his students were irritatingly excited about it, and on a personal note, the closer the dance came, the more that boyfriend of hers always seemed to be hovering around. Gohan told himself that the resentment he felt for the whelp all rooted back to Pan, and to any sort of paternal feelings for Bura he might have developed over time, but he knew that he didn't truly believe any of it to be so.

Jealousy wrapped around his insides like an unwelcome snake loaded with unnatural poison. He felt sick at hating Leon, but _because _of that history he had with him, it became so natural and easy that he completely submitted to it. True, it was more of a possessive sort of jealous than a romantic one, and that if anything the boy genuinely seemed to be threatened by Gohan, but even the admission of some level of participation in these games shrouded his mind with guilt.

Bura stopped talking looking at him as though she'd just said something significant or asked him a question. Either way, he knew from that look, the look classically apparent in all women's cabinet of expressions, that he was supposed to have said something at that point and failed to do so. He coughed a little bit, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I asked you if you're going to be at the dance."

"Haven't been planning on it," he said quickly, lining up all the books on his desk so that they were all straight and settled. She laughed a little bit at this and even slid over on her desk so that she had ample room to move one of them. He eyed her and fixed it. She giggled and messed it up again.

He tried to let it sit after she disturbed his set of books for a final time, but she burst into laughter and he turned a brilliant red when he found he couldn't do it. "I like things neat and as they are!" He stumbled to explain, moving his arms about wildly.

"Is that supposed to make you seem more normal?" Bura held her side. Her laughter filled the room and it made things sunny. Gohan felt the dark, lurking cloud that was her bumbling oaf of a boyfriend approaching. He waited for her outside at the fountains. He didn't know how she excused herself to him, how she explained that she had to attend "detention" every day, but she managed to do it in a way that didn't at all tarnish her name.

"So you're going with meat-head there?" He asked, jerking his thumb in the direction of the window.

Bura cocked a glance at him. Her eyes turned a curious shade as she thought for a moment, Marron's words echoing in her head. She shrugged it off. He wasn't angry he just thought Leon was stupid. And furthermore, Leon had managed to deck him square in the jaw. Hurt or not, it wasn't pleasant. Bura watched Gohan as he fiddled with some pen in his hand. She watched the sharp tip of it and the black ink shining in the sunlight, the soft, shiny metal seemed dark as Gohan stared into it.

"I mean," Gohan grunted, "It's not that I think he's _stupid _or anything, I just," he found himself grumbling. He stopped to look up when he heard Bura make a bit of a gasping noise and drop the notebook in her hands. In a second she was at his side, petting his hand, and he half-thought she was insane until he noticed the deep gash that he'd managed on his index finger. He looked at the criminal, _damn stupid pen, why do you bring her so close to-_

Bura's lips were very, very close to his finger. She had tissues in her hand and was alternatively applying pressure to his finger and looking down at it, trying to examine it as she could. He could feel her warm breath tickling on his palm. If he'd looked he would have gotten the perfect view of her cleavage, and if he moved his chair even a little bit to give her more access, she would have been standing between his legs. He felt a film of sweat forming on his brow and fought the desire to loosen his tie or take off his shirt all together.

He just swallowed and looked down with trembling lips at her face, concerned only with nursing his wounded finger. He damned himself for the thoughts and called himself a monster, but he wanted very badly at that moment to reach around and hold her by her hips to his body and just stay like that.

Bura didn't notice the tension getting thicker in the room until she saw the expression on his face. She returned to him his hand and shuffled back to her desk.

She recalled faintly inviting him to dinner with her as a joke, as a game, a conquest even, when she first entered the doors of her prison. But things had changed and Gohan _had _become her ally and not so much her keeper.

She felt that he was close to her and she could see briefly how under his shirt there was a well sculpted chest. She adored his body for all of its greatness and felt irritated at the fact that he was so conservative she could never completely be able to see it. Not his whole naked body-her thoughts rushed- just his bare chest. She just wanted to see his chest. It seemed so... sculpted.

_Martial artist, eh? Just like… _

Both pushed lusty thoughts away right and quickly. Bura threw away the towels and walked out of the room to wash her hands and the blush off of her cheeks. Gohan looked at himself and took in a deep, deep sigh. What was all of this attraction? She was too young for this, and he too old and… married.

Decidedly, he nodded to himself. He would never think these thoughts again. It was obviously because it'd been at least half a year since he managed to find any release at all with his own wife. He was a human and humans have _those _needs and when and if those needs aren't tended to then it's got to, of course, come out some way.

But not, he thought seriously, severely, with his student.

* * *

"Pan's at a friend's house working on a project. I know it's a school night but I consented to letting her stay at her friend's house for the night." Gohan offered upon seeing his wife, still thin, still lovely, after all of these years. He looked on at her affectionately and raised his glass in her direction to offer her something to drink, "I made us dinner. I thought that it would be nice to spend some time together." His eyes deepened their gaze and he allowed the lust that he'd been suffering from, that he felt in his every bone after the anticipation to rush through.

Videl watched him with a half-smile on her face. Truly she felt exhausted and wanted to eat and shower and go to sleep. Her husband did look attractive, his shirt buttoned down and his sleeves rolled up and she could see if she tilted her eyes down the definition of the muscles of his chest. She looked curiously at his jawline and felt somewhat jealous that his looks had only improved over the years and hers had steadily declined.

There was something unfair about it, and yet it did not make her appreciate the sexual attention he was attempting to offer her. She took off her shoes and washed her hands, examining the lovely dinner he'd prepared. "Oh, it smells very nice." She had to allow, she loved it when he cooked. He was actually a better cook than she was, but that was something she would never admit to.

They ate and spoke briefly of things and places, of work (although Gohan did not mention Bura, knowing full and well that his wife with her tendency to be jealous would take things the wrong way) and of play. She asked him about the afternoon he spent away from home, the one that he spent with his parents with a slight inflection of resentment in her tone. "I don't know why you didn't just _tell me _you wanted a home-cooked meal. My gosh, Gohan, you didn't have to go and bother your parents."

Gohan abandoned the simplest approach that was essentially the truth of the matter (_they missed me; I missed them) _even though it was the most simple of any explanation he could have given his wife. There was something inside of her that was either unable or unwilling to understand that he felt a bond to his parents.

_There's something wrong when lying makes more sense than the truth, when it's… easier, for everyone involved. _

How he missed that connection with nature and life and the world he'd felt just days ago. His mother even called the next day and asserted that even though something was very clearly on his mind, she loved seeing him, and she wished that he would come over more often. ChiChi even half-heartedly mentioned her daughter-in-law and granddaughter but had in her own heart of hearts managed to give up seeing either of them long ago.

How Gokou and ChiChi once doted on poor little Pan! And the families were happy, because Hercule and Gokou got on well enough and Videl admired ChiChi and ChiChi figured that Videl would continue to help Gohan go in the 'right direction'. Unfortunately, Gohan sighed a little bit (earning a quizzical look from Videl that he merely smiled to) considering how his mother got her wish in an extreme she had never before been able to fathom.

Gohan looked around, practically able to feel how loveless and ironed and heartless his house actually was. It was large and it was expensive but there was nothing in it that really gave him any sort of happiness. Gohan suggested that the two do something together to enjoy their company.

Videl represented the perfect human to him. She was put together and normal and socially well-regarded and kind and understanding.

When she looked at him, exhausted, and suggested just resting on the bed and watching a movie, Gohan felt his heart sink and he knew that there would be no play at all. Too modest to complain, he sent his wife to bed and told her that she could pick the flick to watch. He knew well enough that it was her intention to conveniently fall asleep, so he reasoned he could be gentleman enough to let her fall asleep to the noise of her choice.

It was at that point that Gohan checked his email. A curious address sat proudly in his inbox. He opened the letter, and there was a greeting from Bura: **I'm bored. I hate math. A lot. -Bra. **

It gave him a very twisted joy to be acknowledged and addressed by her, for he spent most of his days with her now and came to think of her as something of a friend. She didn't have to contact him. She was in no way forced to. She did it because she _wanted _to. This felt significant.

"Gohan! Honey?" His wife called out to him, groggy and confused.

Although he brushed his excitement off as much as he could, knowing well enough that it was probably a whim of hers, he felt his hands gliding over the keyboard without his permission: **Just make it look like you did something. I'll make it a completion grade for you. Okay? –Son Gohan, professor of mathematics, Orange Star High School. **

He knew he had to answer his wife's call, but felt too guilty leaving something from _her _in his inbox. He deleted the evidence although he knew it was silly to _feel _like he was doing something wrong (she was, after all, still a student) and made to get another drink so that hopefully he would fall asleep easily himself.

As he was examining the ice in his glass, floating about happy and indifferent to the woes and complications of his life, he heard a little noise emitted from his computer. Against his better judgment, he felt a wide grin come on. Just as his fingertips twitched to read her message, he heard his wife interrupting his curiosity.

At the top of the stairs she stood, modestly dressed in a robe (surely with clothes under it). She yawned at him with narrowed eyes, "Honey, I thought you wanted to watch a movie with me. I'm about to go to bed, I'm _tired._"

"Of course," he responded gently. "I'll be right there."

She laughed a little bit, sleepy, pushing a lock of hair from her eyes as his eyes darted over to her legs peeking coyly through her dreaded robe. He imagined her in nothing but a t-shirt of his, oversized on her lithe frame, her long, shapely legs shamelessly relaxed against the bannister. "What could possibly be so important at this time at night?"

Gohan smiled at her again, "Nothing. You're right."

"You're just a teacher, Gohan, don't take everything so seriously all the time or you'll end up like me," she teased.

Just as he had predicted, his wife managed to fall asleep within fifteen minutes of the movie's start. He trailed with his injured finger along her hips, up past her abdomen to her breasts. He was surprised just slightly when she caught his hand and looked at his finger, "Oh, what happened?" She clicked her tongue and kissed his palm.

Gohan noticed as she examined the cut that her lips and her breath were as close to his hand as Bura's were earlier, and yet he felt… nothing.

This was alarming on a level he didn't even understand, and Gohan prided himself on understanding most things. How could he understand everything else if he didn't even know how he functioned? He felt panic. Panic, and dread.

What he did not feel was the wild, passionate beast rummaging about inside of its cage that was his body when _she_ touched him. In fact, he felt more irritated that she woke up so he had to wait longer before he could manage his way downstairs and respond to Bura's email.

Videl didn't seem to notice Gohan's discomfort, but he didn't feel like he was being discreet. He waited for her to slip back into her slumber, and then at that turned down the volume to the ending movie so that if she did wake up, she would do so without a headache.

He felt like a criminal inside of his own house, within his own doors and windows and walls. He looked around every corner and cringed at every noise. What an awkward sight he was to see! Finally, he passed the kitchen and crossed into the office. With shaking, eager fingers, he opened up his email and read, biting his lip a bit (for he felt an excitement that he could not exactly place, and how little did he care! the victory of reading the words that she had specifically written for him seemed too sweet): **I'll do just that. What would I do without you? Tell me something amazing before I go to sleep.**

Instantly he felt an odd sort of guilt rush through his veins. He knew that she was probably already asleep, and furthermore, he searched his skull for something interesting or amazing or surprising to tell her and could find nothing worthy of typing. He had nothing to share. His life was disinteresting, entirely.

He was normal.

He was normal in comparison to something great that he also could not conjure into his mind. Gohan sat at the computer for a few moments, examining the message and then his hands and then the message again. He was determined to write it, just in case she was awake or so that she would know that he had responded. With a swallow, he typed: **I'm not sure where you would be without me. Something amazing? I know how to cook very well. **

He swallowed and sent his message before there as time to second guess it. Unable to sleep, he glanced at the clock. It was late, and he would be irritable at work. Ready to reside himself, he heard that familiar tingle of a noise that he got when something new entered in his inbox: **Wow, you just woke me up. But guess what's even weird? I had a dream about you. Gonna go back to bed now. **

Gohan sucked in sweet, sweet air and could only make a pathetic attempt at sleep as he basked in the new knowledge that he was lusting after his young student, and she was not helping him cure the addiction.

* * *

He'd been running a little bit late, but dutifully, she was standing outside of his room, waiting for him to come and unlock the door so that they could spend their time together, "I see you like spending time with me as much as I do too, Miss Briefs," he grinned at her and she rolled her eyes as they entered.

"I'm only here because I have to be." She crossed her arms around her chest and tilted her head sharply to the side, pouting, but the smile on her face was so obvious that both were laughing within seconds.

The air cleared and he crossed his arms, leaning against his desk, "So you had a dream about me, eh?" Gohan cocked a brow at her. She laughed at him as she closed the door and sat on the desk by him. Their familiar, friendly afternoons.

She smirked up at him, "And what if I cannot recall with my young and erratic mind the dream that I had about you?"

Gohan allowed a smug expression to cross his eyes. He then began to dig in his briefcase for something. She stood on her feet to look over his shoulder at what it was, for it was obviously for her, and he looked up, winked, and then pulled it closer to his chest to prohibit her from visual access. Her mouth opened to protest or complain or both, but he let out a little humming noise, "So you're sure you don't remember? Because I ha-ave a little gift for yo-ou if you tell me."

Her eyes brightened at the sight of the cherry soda. She tried to wrench it from his grasp but he was stronger than she, and she failed miserably. After a slight shuffle he didn't even really try to keep her hand away from the can, he just let her turn blue in the face, adorably, hysterically, as she pulled and pulled and pulled and the can didn't move.

She flushed a little bit when she felt his eyes on her. She looked up, "You have a kind of… iron grip, Profe."

Gohan laughed a little bit, "Are you going to keep trying to take it or are you going to earn it?"

Bra tried one last time, and Gohan again felt a mixture of sensations: the cold, wet tin can, Bra Brief's soft, warm hand over his much less delicate one. She cursed under her breath, "Damn it… it's… mine."

"I'm not saying it's not," Gohan said with a casual shrug. He could have stayed there forever. She stood feet apart, looking serious at the can and then back at him. "If I didn't know better, Miss Briefs, it seems like you're avoiding the question here."

"The question here is how I'm going to get my soda." Defiance.

"Tell me about your dream last night." Laughter.

She looked at him, and then back again, and then she sighed, "Okay, okay, but you have to _guess _it."

"Bull!" Gohan said, pulling the soda just away from her once more, over her head and he could see her seething resentment at the apparent height difference. "You can just tell me!"

Bura shook her head wildly and crossed her arms around her chest. They stared each other down for a few seconds before he tossed her the can, "Okay. I'll guess, but give me my first hint."

Bura pressed her finger to her lip, looking up thoughtfully. "It's a band."

Gohan blinked, "That is _not _an appropriate hint." He felt cheated, but looked up to think. "You're going to tell me, you know that right?"

Bura shrugged a bit, hopping off of her desk, holding the can of soda as though it were something precious, something to be loved and showered with adoration. Gohan swallowed his curiosity as she danced about the room, "So you're going to the dance?"

"I might."

"You _might?" _

_"_Well, I will for a little while." She replied.

Gohan raised a brow, feeling the need to brace for what news may come, "And after that?"

"Well, my date and I, we're going to go with a friend of mine to an after party." She looked at him. The answer was vague and he knew why. He wasn't stupid and he felt his face flush a bit.

The man bit his lip, trying to find the words to protest without seeming angry or controlling or inappropriate. He knew how well she responded to _that. _Gohan frowned, "Well, do you still have my number? In case you need anything? I just... don't want to see you do anything that you're going to regret or see you get hurt."

Bura eyed him, "Yes, I have it. I'll call you if anything happens, I promise."

"No, I want you to call me when you get home." Gohan swallowed, recalling the night he waited up for word from her, "I want peace of mind before I go to sleep."

_You think of me before you go to sleep? _She sighed, shaking her head, "You're worse than my brother is."

"And I have every right to be, don't you suppose? I'm simply trying to look after you. Please don't think I'm trying to control you or tell you what to do or how to do it." Gohan never had to do this with Pan. He didn't know what to say or how to assure he that he was on her side, "I _do_ _care_, but the priority to me, because I know you're going to do whatever it is that you want to do regardless, is that you end up safe and home in the end."

Gohan felt as though he was practically pleading with the girl, but her face melted finally and she nodded, "Fine, I'll call you when I get back in. But if it's too late..."

Gohan smiled with triumph, "So about that dream?" He was shifting about until he finally loosened and then took off his tie. Bura eyed it and he saw that grin on her face and he tried to reach for it, but he was too late. She held it in her hand, between her delicate fingers, and he knew she would refuse to return it.

It did not even cross his mind that that was one of the ties his wife bought him. No, what crossed his mind was how when _she _put on the tie, it led the eyes straight down and he could see her amazing, tiny body, and he felt hot all over again. Wrong wrong wrong.

_God, she plays dirty. _He swallowed, but she didn't seem to notice. She just smiled playfully at him, taking a sip of her cherry soda. "A band, huh?" Gohan proceeded on, knowing full well she was trying to distract him (and had in a way she probably hadn't predicted). He leaned back, stroking his chin as he thought, "How does that have to do with me being in your dream? Was I playing this music or were you hearing this music?"

"Not exactly," Bra said with smiling eyes, "You haven't even guessed a band yet."

"Well, is the band a location? The location that we're in?" Gohan proceeded.

Bra laughed a little bit, "No, no it's not."

"Is it a person that's present?"

"Nope."

"Is it something that we're doing? Like, an activity?" He asked.

"Just guess!" Bra Briefs flushed impatiently.

Gohan gave her a knowing smirk, "So the band's name _is _something that we're doing..." He trailed off. Truth be told, Gohan did not have an extensive knowledge of contemporary music. He opted to blurt out basic verbs instead, "Alright. Is it a battle or a sport?"

"No." She shook her head.

"But it is an action. Huh. So is it something weird?"

"I'd say." She was looking up, but away from his eyes. Gohan bit his lip.

He looked about impatiently, "Just tell me what it is!"

"Nope!" She smiled at him a little bit. Confident that he wouldn't guess, she sashayed back to her desk to pick up her books.

Suddenly, it came to him.

"Kiss. Is it Kiss?"

She nearly dropped her notebook. Gohan could not hide the smirk apparent on his lips, the lips that she contemplated very late at night. She glared at him and rolled her eyes and exited the room. The professor felt light and sweet. He wanted to pursue the topic, but when he opened his door he heard Bura engaged in conversation with someone else.

"Bura! Are you going to Numbers after the dance tomorrow?"

Her response was either muffled or she merely shook her head. He didn't hear the answer, and he didn't need to. He knew what her answer was. So that was where she was going. Gohan swallowed.

* * *

_His lips were oh so soft and his skin was smooth and warm and she felt his teeth brush against her bottom lip while his arms, his big, powerful arms, moved around her body to caress her back and her breasts and it was like he was everywhere at once. He increased the force of the kiss and ignited the passion that both were feeling deep in the pits of their stomachs. It was a raw and desperate need for release and satisfaction, and she felt his tongue letting its way into her mouth, and she tasted him, and he tasted her, and her hands roamed to touch his chest and his arms and reach lower and lower until they were just barely brushing against the fabric of his pants. She could feel his excitement, hard and demanding attention and her eyes finally opened as she gasped for breath and looked him in the eyes, those dark, black eyes of his. _

She woke up flushed. She looked down to see her hands tangled in his tie. It smelled like him. He smelled... nice.

Bura looked up and she was unsurprised at how dark it seemed outside. She turned on her computer only to be greeted with several emails from stupid friends, all probably wanting an invitation to her personal after party. But in her world, there was only room for so many, and the ones she wanted to be around were rarely available for her taking. It was a vicious cycle. People wanted her. She wanted other people. Other people were gone, or distracted, or married math teachers.

She clicked her tongue and tried to calm the surprise and excitement that she felt when she saw the words on her screen. He'd emailed her: **Confession time: I've had the same thoughts. It's okay. **

That was all it said, she knew it needn't say more. Bura touched the tie that she was still holding in her hands. Unable to decide how or whether or not she should respond to his email, she deleted it. She washed her face with cool water and went back to bed, where, despite herself, she hoped for more exciting dreams of him.

She kissed his tie, just a peck on the fine fabric as she closed her eyes. Gohan had good taste. She wondered what he tasted like.

* * *

"You know you don't have detention today because of the dance, right?" Gohan asked. He felt odd around her now, not because of the email, but because he knew that despite everything, she would be going to a club that night and he did not appreciate the knowledge. He wished he didn't know.

He wanted to be entirely ignorant of all of her shenanigans outside of class, he wanted to think of her as perfect and pure and virginal.

He could barely stand the thought of her dancing on top of her idiot boyfriend, or the idea that they would have sex, or the idea that she would probably be drinking.

Bura looked at him. She didn't really know exactly why she wanted to see him. She simply did. Something more than habit, something deeper than fondness was coiling inside of her stomach and she looked away as she said, almost quietly, "I know. I just..."

_I just wanted to see you. Do I need an excuse to see you? This is nuts. _

Gohan, even in his mood, didn't care to see her feeling unwelcome in his room, so he changed the subject, "So I guessed your little guessing game. What do you owe me?"

Bura raised a brow in surprise and indignation, "What exactly do you mean? I told you, didn't I?"

"I don't remember you really _admitting _anything." Gohan shook his head, and Bura knew that she was caught in a technicality. She could either bring up what she dared to not, not to his face (handsome as it was) and not to those sparkling eyes of hers.

"Fine," she snapped, "What do you want, then?" Part of her was surprised at how on the surface their relationship seemed much the same, but now everything's changed.

Gohan touched his lip with a finger, looking up as though he was waiting for some divine idea to come to mind. When he was pleased with his thoughts, he smiled brightly at her. "You can either give me a massage or tell me what exactly you plan on doing tonight." He was confident she'd have to pick the latter, more practical of the two choices and was completely and totally taken off guard when-

"Fine, when do you want your massage?"

Gohan shook his head, a bit too frantically. She crossed her arms over her chest and called out, "I'll see you later, Profe!"

He sat there, tormented and admittedly beaten. Between the two he would have preferred the massage but he would never, ever call to ask for it and he knew that she chose it for that reason.

It was an innocent, empty suggestion.

Gohan closed his eyes for a moment. He bit his lip, and _oh he could see her prance back in with that beautiful, sexy shift of her hips. He could see her crawling into his lap, tongue gliding over her soft pink lips with lust and desire in her eyes, and he could see her slowly loosening his tie, and then removing it, and then taking off his shirt button by button and letting her lips trace his chest and move down and down until her delicate, manicured hands caressed his belt-_

He jerked forward. Gohan shook his head. He shook it again. He could not get the image out of his head and he could not make his chest slow down.

* * *

**-CL**


	5. Disaster: Five

**PS: Ghost readers, you suck. **

**Disaster**

_Unapologetic_. He considered briefly the implication of the word. As he leaned back in his chair, looking up as though asking God for help, he sighed. He knew at that point as he'd known for days now that he was truly giving in to his desires. He didn't want to hurt Bura, or to corrupt her or to control her. But at the same time, the man that he once knew, comfortable with his life, unwilling to change, was demanding that he cease with his impure thoughts and move on with his life.

Before, when he considered things to be unappologetic, he mostly thought of literature. Words written beautifully, plots with their sudden twists, how captivating a good work of art could be! And how curious it was, when he thought about it, that words were the most beautiful form of art that humans could create that he would come to know. But _people _are also unapologetic sometimes. He'd learned that sure and certain.

He wondered if contentment or purity _ever _came to mind at all for some people. At the same time, he knew that most things could be debated. He hated the relativity and subjectivity of emotions. He was tied to one woman by a promise and metal and a daughter and he felt he was forming a bond with someone much younger. Her sixteenth birthday was only a few weeks away. He would have to lock his lust in the small, unhappy area of his heart reserved for rejection and disappointment, and he would have to conceal it every day.

Gohan looked upstairs. He was alone in his big, expensive house. He was unaware completely regarding the whereabouts of his own daughter. He hated himself for it, but had to admit that after becoming so absorbed in his project to "fix" Bura, the level of communication between him and his daughter significantly slid off. She, being young and just learning about herself in this world, took advantage of it. She was always off with some friends. Offhandedly, he just hoped that her idea of fun was more conservative. As a father, he knew his daughter and he knew that she felt a certain amount of disgust at people that participated in illegal activities. He hoped it wasn't an act.

He sighed a bit to himself and pulled his under-shirt over his head. The silly little dance would be starting soon. He half-considered it to be comforting, that for at least a few hours she would be safe, somewhat monitored. He rubbed his head and looked upstairs once more. Apparently there was a place other than the couch calling to him.

* * *

He hadn't been in a club in years, and yet no one seemed to question him. There were a few people making the attempt to dance, but most stood around looking cocky. He sat in the back, avoiding essentially everyone. Every once in a while a girl might look at him and quirk her fine brow, suggesting something to him. He looked at his drink in hand and shook his head. When he looked up, she was usually gone. He didn't appreciate the loud music, or the headache that was quickly approaching, but he had no one to complain to. He leaned back, knowing that he would be waiting for a while for her. He didn't want to talk to her or to be seen, he simply wanted to watch over her and make sure that there was no trouble for her.

As he attempted to excuse himself, his thoughts wandered off to his life, before he met his wife. His wife... He sighed a bit. To himself, of course. He adored Videl, but as he sank into his drink he could not help but consider the idea that maybe that adoration was not love. Gohan never spoke of his delicate feelings towards his wife, the ones that now and then he would pretend were love, but if it ever was, it'd disappeared slowly, discreetly, in the great fade of marriage.

She had pretty blue eyes. Bura, not Videl. Videl's eyes were... nice. Something about them was kind. Something was calm, mature, but Bura's eyes were bright as the ocean and vivid as fire. He coughed to himself. It was unfair to compare the two, and so he tried to settle his mind on something else. Something that was not his mind floating back to thoughts of her bent over him, smiling wickedly at his expense, tormenting him with her youth and sexuality.

The music was so loud, he barely realized it was Bura he was thinking about. He tried to think of her in a paternal light: there was something about her that was sad, something desperate, that he saw and he knew she was like any other rich girl. Her parents threw money at her so she would leave them alone, she was at a complete lack of affection and here she was, entering a night club with money in her hands. Everyone knew who she was. How old she was. He reminded himself constantly of how old she was. Why wouldn't the rest of the world?

She was a child, he decided with some bitterness in his heart. He didn't understand why the world had to be _that _unfair. Why, within everything that had happened in his long and eventful life, he had to find someone so captivating as her so late. His thoughts traced back to his wife. Videl... ah, yes, there was a mistake and he had to marry her because of it. He loved her, the way a brother loved his sister or a male friend loved a female friend, but he was not in love with her. Or at least, he'd decided that was how he felt about her at that moment, with a little bit of alcohol corrupting his thoughts.

She was so used to a schedule. So, so... There was something about life with her that had gotten terribly boring. It made him feel boring, boring and old.

The night raged on. With laughter and Marron on one arm and her boyfriend at her other, they all marched happily into the club. Her fake-ID was accepted easily, and girls much older than Bura glared at her enviously. Her dress did not leave a great deal to the imagination, and her date was taking full advantage of it. The trio looked around, knowing that other friends that had already arrived would greet them enthusiastically. It was in Bura's style to be late.

The other school students didn't know Marron, but they knew _of _Marron, and that was all well enough. They underestimated the close ties that the two girls shared, but aside from that, they all looked at her with a certain admiration. She was, after all, older and wealthy and fashionable. Marron always found the high school students that followed about Bura to be irritating. She sighed and with a cruel look in her eyes glanced at Bura, who agreed that these irritating kids needed to go.

Before Bura knew it, she felt hands on her hips, tugging her away to a dance. Marron laughed despite the fact that she was being left alone to handle the advances of younger guys. She was happy for Bura, but she knew her friend and she knew that this relationship would not last so very long. They usually didn't, these flings of hers.

Bura felt odd as she was dancing and she didn't exactly know why. She tried to feel for the music, tried to allow herself to slip into the beat with sensuality and a glint of suggestion in her eyes as the guy with her touched her up and down, but the idea that she was being watched or that she was guilty or that she was in trouble taunted her. He looked at her as to question what was wrong. She shook her head and pulled away from him.

Marron quirked a brow, "What's wrong?"

The music was loud, they had to shout over it, "You know how he is, he would freak out if he saw me dancing with someone else." Bura said, shaking her head.

Marron did not entirely accept the explanation but didn't ask about it any more. Her best friend, she knew, did not ever really try to keep boyfriends from becoming jealous. Marron even fancied that Bura, to some extent, was excited by the idea of being the object of someone's lust and jealousy. She figured that her friend would open up again and touched her arm with the comfort of a best friend.

At that point, she heard several girls duck together excitedly to point at some guy sitting alone in a corner. He seemed aloof, indifferent to them all, and it only fired up their attraction. Bura peaked over, half wondering if he really was worth the effort, and already considering trying to get to him before one of them got to him. But when she looked in the direction of the man, her eyes widened long enough for Marron to notice, and she turned around very quickly.

"Do you know him?" She asked, moving a bit away from the crowd.

Bura bit her lip and made a very small, jerked nod. It was him. Her friends couldn't tell, making gestures and talking about what they'd like to do to him, but that was her math teacher sitting on a chair staring at her. His eyes were glittering, and she knew that he had been watching her. Marron felt uneasy, "Do I need to... do you need help?"

She shook her head, unsure as to what to do or if she should say anything. Going over and talking to him would bring attention to him, which would be bad because even though she did feel the unpleasant desire to see exactly what he was doing there, she already had confirmed in her mind that it had to do with her. How exactly he found out it was her plan to come was beyond her, and almost made the look in his eyes, his pale, handsome face, more dangerous. "I don't think so. I just want to talk to him." Bura excused herself and prayed that maybe it was just the lighting and it really wasn't Son Gohan.

"What do you think you're doing here?" She whispered, making her way towards him. She didn't know what exactly the point of whispering was. The music and lights and sweat of the area made it impossible to hear in a regular tone. He looked up lazily at her. She wondered if something was wrong, and half reproached herself for barging over there when he didn't _seem _to be guarding her, after all.

"Hmn?" Gohan glanced in her direction.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed. But she couldn't shake the feeling of his eyes following her body. And it hit her. He'd come for her. He was her teacher and he was not concerned about the other girls. He'd come for her.

He quirked a brow, "Bura, what are _you _doing here?"

His hand was on her wrist. They were headed out. He started with his preaching, just a little bit early, but he was careful and good to make it at least seem like he wasn't dragging her out. Marron was the only one that really noticed that she was leaving, and Bura shot her a look that indicated she would be back soon. Uneasily, her best friend nodded. Gohan shook his head, "I don't know why you're doing this to yourself, but stop. Just stop. There was a sweet young lady talking to me today, and here you are."

"You're not my father!" She yanked her arm from him. He didn't care. He was just being a nice guy, he was just doing what he thought her mother was paying him to do, he was just, he was just... "Go away! I'll do what I like! It's not like you care, stop sucking up to my mom!" She felt now that it all made sense. It was all babysitting, everything, the detention and the talking and now this. He was just trying to take care of her, trying to baby her and make himself look good. She felt used and angry at once, and flushed at the idea of finding him attracted moments ago.

Gohan laughed. She stared at him hard as he stood bitterly on the street, laughing in anger. The stupid girl. She thought that he'd gone out of his way because he cared if her mother would be angry or not. As though Buruma had any sort of control over him, with all of her money and her power, as though it was possible at this point for anyone to really have any control over him except her. He shot a nasty glare at her, "Oh, I care. I care too much to let you go back in there and do this to yourself."

She backed away from him. She went back inside. Inside, where her boyfriend took her wrist rather accusingly and held it hard until she glowered at him darkly and he let it drop. He demanded to know who she went out with and what they did, but exhausted and irritable and hurt with Gohan, Bura blurted out something of a break-up line and walked away. Marron raised a brow, putting a hand on her hip. She watched her friend for a few moments carefully.

As Bura sat down, she thought deeply on the words that he'd hissed at her. With a swallow, she made her choice. No. He was wrong. He didn't care.

He didn't care. If he did, he would've followed her.

* * *

There is something, something about fate. How fate seems to like rainy days, or nights, rather, because it started raining shortly after as he was driving home. He considered the excellence that she was a part of, and then his thoughts trailed back to the promise he'd made her before, that he would not try to control her. Gohan tried to swallow his pride and his anger. He really had no desire to make her leave, not until he saw the way those eyes were on her, the way that she looked in that dress of hers, the way that her flesh looked so soft and inviting.

He threw his keys to the side, took two aspirins, barely noted that it was a little after 3:30, his belt and shoes found their way to the floor, he unbuttoned his shirt and managed to plop on the couch to catch maybe three hours of sleep before he would have to wake up and face whatever the day asked him to face, and things seemed to speed up.

He didn't realize he'd been asleep on the couch for nearly an hour when the doorbell rang. He wasn't sure what time it was. He felt disoriented and a bit of a headache coming on. He'd come home angry and aggravated, she was no different and if she wanted to destroy herself, that was fine by him. Well, it wasn't fine by him, but it was beyond his control.

Some part of him thanked whatever was up there, if anything was up there, that Pan wasn't like that. She was so very much like her mother. But she'd been in the company of his parents most of her childhood, his parents that his wife sneered at when they weren't looking, that she mocked when they were away. Gohan rubbed his head. The doorbell rang again, this time with more urgency. He sighed to himself and shook his head, wondering what was wrong or who left their house key. He cracked his neck as he made his way down the hall to the door.

They were the helpful, sweet sort of people, good-natured in every way, and never once did something only for themselves, and never once did something to hurt another. He loved his parents. He missed his parents a great deal, and, with regret he noted that he'd forgotten a good deal of the wisdom they'd shared with him back in the days when he was young.

They were what made sure Pan had morals and some sort of sweetness inside of her that her mother didn't kill by the time she was twelve. Her mother was a sweet woman, or she could be, but there was that ill-willed arrogance to her that she could never exactly let down. While at one time he found it charming, at this point in his life he found it unflattering. Pan's kindness managed to stay stuck stuck and she was too decent, and too much like her mother, unimaginative, to bother leave the house to go do anything but study with a male her age and sneak a kiss on his cheek and be excited about that.

The bell rang again. He was a bit annoyed, at this point lost in his thoughts as he was, he'd assumed it was Videl that simply did not have the energy to find her house keys. He heard a bit of a rustling upstairs, one of the ladies of the house must have been home.

Finally, he opened the door. His eyes widened in something like pleasure and the pain of knowing that he'd just found his way into a bad situation. And there she was, hugging herself. "She kicked me out. She... she kicked me out."

* * *

Videl watched the rain splash on the window. She was about to make her way downstairs to see who'd come calling so late at night when she heard the door open. Thinking that somehow Pan had managed to get herself into trouble, Videl got up and wrapped her robe around herself. Obviously Gohan'd let her in, lazy thing that he was. She could've sworn to herself that she missed him when she came in, but her exhaustion didn't care so much. He could've been in the office when she came in.

She peaked her head around the corner. Through the entrance to the kitchen she could barely see the figure of a young girl standing in front of her husband. Videl with a great sense of curiosity remained silent as she watched _her husband_ flush at the sight of this individual.

* * *

He rubbed his head and stared at the girl standing in the doorway. Though somewhere, part of him was completely unsure as to what to do or how to handle the situation, impulse told him to open the door wider and move to the side so the soaked creature could come in. He was in a state of shock and he bit his lip, closing the door behind her as the rain ruthlessly beat down on the Earth.

She bent down to unzip her boots. Gohan averted his eyes. She was obviously still a little drunk because she was tripping over herself as she did it. Gohan pointed to the couch and she pointed to her soaked hair. He pointed to the couch again and she sighed and sat down. He knew it was a great sin against the great couch, but he had very little concern for it. He'd buy his wife a new couch to be anal over.

Gohan locked the door and cocked his head towards the girl once again, but when she looked up, he'd disappeared.

"Profe?" She croaked, awkward in a house that did not belong to her. He returned at her call, handing her a warm blanket that he must've just gotten out of the dryer. She shivered into it. It smelled nice, like him.

He sat next to her, not sure how to address the real topic at hand. She never mentioned her parents or her family. "How did you find my address?"

Bura laughed bitterly, "I went to my friend's apartment. I couldn't stay there, but he let me use the computer. I basically hacked your wife's profile from Herc-Corporation."

Gohan blinked for a few moments, not sure if he should ask why she couldn't stay with her friend and sound like she was a burden staying with him for the night, or about Bura's accessing information about his wife. She wasn't, he didn't mind at all if she wanted to stay the night, but a good part of him was roused from the inside, screaming that if she was sleeping under his roof then he would want to be sharing that bed. He swallowed.

"I need to find a more permanent place to stay as soon as I can. I'm sure by now she's left me pretty close to penniless."

Gohan sighed, "I'll call her tomorrow and talk to her."

"I would rather you not get involved." Bura sighed, "I'll try and contact my brother. He should be able to talk her into giving me enough to pay for rent and groceries." That was all she needed, she seemed to have reverted back to survival tactics. He was a bit amazed at her. Her speech wasn't very slurred but her movements were slow. He wanted very much to tell her she ought to be not drinking alcohol at her age, but he didn't bother with it.

Instead her felt curiosity take over and in a thoughtful tone, asked, "Torankusu would really help you?" Gohan recalled as he reclined into himself for a moment that Bura never really mentioned the men of her family. No, she mostly only mentioned Buruma. He wanted to ask about her father, he wanted to ask about the man that controlled Torankusu and that had supposedly doted on her, but he seemed to be absent from all of her words. He wondered, but ignored the desire to understand.

"He likes me for some reason." Bura shrugged. "He may even let me stay with him. But he lives by the second Capsule Corporations building. I'm sorry. I should've gone there first now that I think about it." She seemed calmer now, she seemed as though she'd come to a certain peace with her world and what was happening.

Gohan looked at the clock. It was nearly five, "Well, it's too late for me to drive you there. Are you hungry?" He looked about the house, his big, empty house with all of its caged up unhappiness. He wondered if in it he could find anything worth offering to the distraught young girl.

"Not really." She lied. It was late and she wasn't going to bother him more than she had to. She crossed her arms over her chest, and found herself yawning. What she truly desired was a good night's sleep.

Gohan sighed, "It's okay if you are. I didn't really eat either. Let's see what we have."

Bura followed Gohan to the kitchen. It was a large room with granite counter tops and white tile. Though it was nice, it was very... plain. Bura sat on one of the kitchen tops, and her professor smiled at her a bit. There was something about her manner, completely unapologetic, that he adored. He pushed the thoughts away from himself, and stretched.

"Let's see what we have." Gohan said, opening the door to the refrigerator. He blushed a little, looking towards the child as his own stomach growled.

She laughed a little as his cheeks flushed.

His face fell and he closed the door. He seemed to be scrounging through the entire kitchen and finally he looked at her with sad eyes, "We don't have anything. My wife has been working late for a while... She still hasn't gotten in, so she probably just went to sleep over at her father's, and my daughter was going to spend the night there too, I think."

"That's okay. I can just now, and I'll grab something later on."

He looked at her pointedly, "You, you are not going anywhere at this time." And then with a look back towards the empty fridge, Gohan sighed and whined, "And we don't even have milk or cheese or bread. Geeze."

"That is pretty bad." Bura nodded. She would've patted him on the shoulder, but he was actually a lot taller than she was. It was the first time she'd noticed the height difference. He looked shorter when she was asleep in the back of class. He looked down at her, noticing that she was noticing the height difference. He gave her a bit of a cocky smile, daring her to comment on it. He felt himself soften at her touch.

Videl watched in a dark silent, infuriated at the pair while the rain gently strummed on the window. She twisted her nose up in disdain as she watched Gohan speaking to her gently, touching her shoulder from time to time, speaking to her about her life. He'd spoken more words to that girl in a span of minutes than he had to her in weeks. Jealousy rose up in her soul and in her chest as fire caught to paper.

She wrapped her robe about herself more tightly, biting her lip to recall that not much time had passed since he stroked her hip with tender adoration. She saw it all in a new light, and she felt disgusted with him. The girl was young, and she looked very familiar, but Videl had no real recall.

And he disregarded her so easily. He disregarded her when he had the girl sit on her expensive couch, and he disregarded her when he smiled at her as she sat on his granite, and he disregarded her when he let her in. Fuming, Videl could not find sleep. And worse, her own husband didn't even know that she was home. She felt her hand hit a pillow. And then she bit her lip, the way a woman does when she feels her world slowly sliping apart at its most crucial seams, and she felt her back sliding to the floor.

* * *

He was sitting at his desk when she came in. He cocked a brow, and shifted in his seat. He completely understood the severity of the situation. Despite the fact that he'd ensured her safe return to her brother, he knew that as a teacher it was more than a little bit inappropriate to be seen together with her off of campus. She was young, and it could be excused, but only to a certain extent. Only to a certain extent. She could get him fired. She could get him in jail. She could damn him from here and back, and yet he found that he was still very worried about her, "Miss Briefs, I think you've learned--"

The door closed. He sighed. It was a deep sigh, and somehow he felt itchy and uncomfortable knowing that they were alone.

She seemed to be at ease with herself. As though nothing had happened, not even bothering to register the great step that they had taken, Bura sat on her desk and watched him with curious eyes. She was visibly concerned with the little bit of sweat forming on her professor's brow, but only a faint idea as to why it was there.

And then, of course, a man burst in the room. He was not very tall, but not very short. Clearly a man, but at least ten years Gohan's junior. Gohan stood immediately, and he eyed the intruder. He wore a suit, but looked like he didn't belong in it. And when he saw her, there was a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad you're here."

Bura looked up and for the first time Gohan saw what he could consider to be a genuine smile. She stood and her arms hooked around his neck, despite the fact that she was a few inches shorter than he was. He sighed again, brushing the hair out of her face, "What are you doing with yourself, little girl?" The warm smile was returned and the younger man allowed the girl to let go of his grasp.

It was almost a tender moment, but they were both aware of the fact that Gohan was staring despite his best efforts. Torankusu. Gohan looked up, and was almost glad that the source of his guilt was to be removed. The boy with lavender, almost white hair and intense blue eyes nodded to her, "I'm going to take care of you, okay?"

She nodded, and Gohan stared. The girl needed a father. And he felt irritated all at once, but where was hers? He'd seen Buruma before coming to and from, and this young man clearly cared, but from the way she interacted with the caring older man, Gohan could tell that the girl had some serious issues with the amount of male attention she got. A certain amount of insecurity, perhaps? He tried to ponder on it, but another part of him was too fascinated by the interaction between siblings.

She confidently stood on her brother's arm, and nothing seemed to matter. He asked, "And where did you sleep last night?" and "Oh Baby, why didn't you come get me?" And he looked sincerely upset and worried. "I could've killed mom when I found out. I really could've. But.." A sigh.

Here it comes.

"I wish you would take better care of yourself."

She twitched, "I can take care of myself just fine, thanks." Oh, the proud little student of his!

"Yes, you say that." He sighed, not quite amused, not quite humoring her, "Bura, I love you. You're my little baby sister and you're the only one I'll ever get." His protective eyes swept over to Gohan. Distrust filled his expression. Gohan felt as though he'd been caught red handed.

"Please don't." A look of irritation swept across her pretty features. She could tell he was looking at her revealing outfit and trying to figure out when and how he could comment on it. Swiftly, she changed the subject, "I need to go back to CC and get my clothes."

"I can't believe she just let you leave."

__

Let?

Gohan's mouth dropped, he gave Bura a look. Even so, the two were already out the door, speaking to each other. He wanted to follow and hear more, but they were gone. He looked down, signed Bura's detention slip, and tried very, very hard to focus on his work for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Weeks passed. Bura stopped attending detention as soon as she'd started. He sighed to himself, but life seemed to settle back to normal as the seasons changed and the world seemed prepared for it's same old transformation. The air got colder, the sky a bright shade of grey, leaves died and fell off and every day, Gohan felt that it was more and more symbolic.

And so he forgot Bura, put the moment of lust out of his mind and avoided her and she taunted him as she'd done before, talking and drawing in class, until one day Bura didn't show up. And the next day, and the next day, and she was absent for a week before Gohan finally went to Patel. But as he checked his email, he noticed a note that stated it was very urgent that he make his way to speak to the principal right away. And when Patel he saw the man, he was immediately put on guard when he found the expression of panic on Patel's sweaty, chubby face. "So you're here, finally!" He barely regarded Gohan, shaking his head, shuffling papers.

"Bura Briefs, where is she?" Gohan watched the man, swallowing a little bit to brace himself for news.

Patel visibly flinched, and looked up as though he was unsure as to where to begin. Finally, he asked in a very soft voice, "You didn't know?" There seemed to be pity in his tone, and he shook his head. His voice got bitter, "Bura Briefs moved in with her brother downtown. I've been fighting with that boy for almost a week, trying to get her back in school. He's fairly set on her attending Black Star."

Gohan sucked air in carefully and sat down, "What are we going to do? Well, it's more or less what _you're _going to do, actually. You see, you're the only one Bura is particularly fond of, and we _need _her to be attending _this _school."

The man shook his head in awe of the corrupt school system. It was indifferent to him, indifferent to Bura, just willing to use any asset it could. Gohan felt a sudden sickness, and he shook his head once more, "Bura's been skipping detention and acting out in my class as much as she did at the start of the year. I hardly would imagine that my speaking to her brother would have much of an impact."

"Don't think he hasn't been keeping as much track as Buruma has been on what you managed to do with her. Trunks, he loves his little sister," Patel looked about for a moment, "And frankly I think that that whole spoiled lot of them, they all deserve each other. Orange Star, let me tell you, does not really want to involve itself in the theatrics that have been occurring within the walls of the Briefs home. But it's a necessary evil. We _need _her to attend this school, Gohan. I've set up a meeting between you and young Torankusu this afternoon." The cheesy grin that Patel managed with his fat, hairy lip only told Gohan that he had no real choice in the matter.

And with that he left Patel's office. The day was coming to a close. He could not get the girl out of his mind. Not in a sexual way, but in his own way he'd wondered exactly what was going on with that family. Why Buruma that everyone said loved the girl had kicked her out--or if she even had kicked Bura out. Why did Bura lie? Torankusu seemed to be the only one in the family with a head clear. Gohan sighed. He tried to finish grading, but he was marking things randomly, forgetting himself, at some point he even lost his answer key. He laughed to himself as he gave up fishing around for it and began to check the answers by doing the problems in his head. For a second, it reminded him of his younger days. But it didn't seem like he was ever young. He looked down at his watch.

But things were brighter, Videl spent less and less time at work. The couple started actually going to dinner, movies on Saturdays and even a few family trips to the mall or here or there when Pan was feeling up to joining (which, of course due to her age was becoming a fairly rare thing in itself). He felt like he had more control. Felt more confident, more like a man, and his life had in itself seemed to be piecing back together. He smiled at a picture of them, it was recent. But while she'd claimed, at several points, that she felt younger, and he smiled and said he felt the same, he knew it was a lie. Every day Gohan felt older.

He sighed and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed the number dear to his heart and when she picked up with a content, "Hello?"

He responded, "Hey. Videl, I'm so sorry-it's so careless of me that I forgot something I've got to do before I come home. I may be just a bit late for dinner, but I'll be there. I promise." He assured her. He's pleased that things had picked up with his family life. Still, his sex life remained in its dry state, but the fact that there was some sort of interaction between the two of them was pleasing in itself. Gohan leaned back in his chair, trying to be comfortable.

Instead of getting irritated as she normally would, Videl tried to be chipper and understanding, "Oh, I see."

"I know how you are about people being prompt," He laughed a little bit to clear the air, "And I promise I will do everything in my power to be on time. I just want you to know if I'm not that I'm coming."

She seemed happier at his amendment, and nodded, "Oh, okay, Honey. Well, I'll see you tonight then."

"I love you, Bye?"

She laughed at his playful tone, "Yes, yes. I love you, too." He heard a knock at the door and looked up. He saw through his tinted glass the shadow of a large man, and made a motion for the figure to enter. "Bye, now." The door closed, and Gohan put away his cell phone.

Trunks looked over at Gohan with the same distrust he had when they first "met." Gohan smiled pleasantly, "I'm Son Gohan." He stood politely and extended his hand, and Trunks firmly took it before sitting.

"You obviously know that my sister will be staying with me for a while. I have been given full liberty to guide her as I see fit until she turns seventeen, or she returns to my mother's care." Trunks' face was stiff. It seemed as though youth had escaped him as well.

Immediately, Gohan felt a great sensation of regret. He'd missed Bura's sixteenth birthday! Shaking the thought away, he turned his attention back to the man. "I know that you've considered moving Bura, but it's my honest opnion that at this time in her life she needs some sort of stability. This must all be very hard for her, and I don't believe it's in her best interest to ask her to endure another change like this."

Trunks nodded a bit, "I understand what you're saying, but I also think she needs a breath of fresh air. She's around all of these stupid kids and I just don't think that she's happy with her peers. I want her to excel, and I know that she seems to be responding to you better than she has anyone else in a long while. I just wonder what would be the best for her."

"Well," Gohan sharply added, "She's missed a lot of school lately. If you're unsure that she should stay here at Orange Star, then at least let her finish out her semester. See how she does. There are only four weeks left. It will be easier on her, and it will give her time to adjust." His reasoning was sound enough. Trunks seemed to lean back a little bit, thinking on the idea.

"I hated being in this place, you know that? And it hasn't changed all that much. They all endure whatever we do because of our money. I mean, did someone actually set you up to asking me to keep her here?"

Gohan fought to stay seated. "I honestly care about Bura's success. I know that I can't say the same for the administration, but believe me, someone here cares for her. Someone will be watching over her."

Trunks watched Gohan with his unnerving blue eyes. They were very unlike Bura's. There was a hardness to him, a coldness, and Gohan half-wondered if it was age. It seemed as though, young and spirited as Trunks could be, he had endured much pain and he stood as witness to much sorrow. Gohan felt in his pocket the low rumble of his cell phone, and a bit of him dreaded speaking to his wife. He fingered the device, and sucked in air as he made the choice to turn off the phone so that he could continue fighting to ensure Bura's attendance.

* * *

Just so that you know, if you haven't read the chapters within the past few days (June 6 or so) then the story has pretty much drastically changed. Sorry if there are any errors. I think I got a good deal of any spelling and I clean up grammar as I catch it. I'm not perfect and I'm something of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer, so my grammar probably isn't perfect and occasionally my subject is so elaborate that it doesn't even get to its verb. If you notice anything then feel free to bring it to my attention, but I'd rather spend time writing the updates than fixing them. It wrote for about 12 hours nonstop from chapter one to chapter four, and whether it was just elaborating or creating a paragraph or adding in complete scenes (to complete chapters) there really has been a huge makeover. Not so much a lot of sub-plottage, but tell me what you think. I almost like the focus.

**Reviewer's Corner:**

**Ec-rud-girl: Yes, it's seen quite a change. But never fear, most of the scenes from the original story will play some part in the story. I hope you like this version better.**

**Jay: I felt that the attitude I was giving both Bura and Gohan was a little bit too.. immature. I wanted to give Gohan a more obsessive-compulsive sort of feel but I also wanted to invoke that Gokou-esque positivity inherent. It's hard to portray a chronically happy, sexually frustrated man, though, so I compensated with the nature thing that he's got going on. **


	6. Disaster: Six

**Disaster**

It is necessary and proper to consider a one Son Videl at this point. She remains one of the most complicated members of our tale to describe. Her character is composed of kindness and selfishness, pettiness and sincerity, and beauty but no youthfulness. There is obviously a humanity to her, only humans are this inconsistent. Prim and proper and consumed with her work, the woman has flaws.

But flaws do not mean to imply that she is completely intolerable, ugly, or mean. _Son _Videl did at one point admire and even adore her in-laws. But at some point, life in the city took over her heart and she began to resent what their simplicity and happiness meant to her husband. In her jealousy, she only found consolation in insulting them and breaking the contact between them. It wasn't something she was proud of, but she was Gohan's wife, and it was time for his parents to give him up.

She, on the other hand, owed a great deal to her father. She worked for him for years and despite accusations from ignorant fools, she worked hard and she earned every dollar she received. She was well on her way to being able to handle the company by the time her father was ready to retire. Her accomplishments in such relatively small time periods spoke miles upon miles of both her competence and her determination.

Determination was, after all, Videl's most prized attribute. When she found there was something she wanted, she worked endlessly with an almost unnerving obsession to get it. She was driven and focused. Gohan used to see her as a similar character to his mother because of that powerful look in her eyes when she _had _to get something done.

Videl over these next few months would become very suspicious of Gohan's behavior. It was a very hard thing for a wife to do, to see a girl so much younger than she was making the skin across his cheeks blush a very soft crimson. After that night, Videl considered long and hard the times in her youth when Gohan courted her, and the modest, shy young man that she would fall in love with. She wondered where he went, that shy young man.

Gohan eventually opened up in his own way, or it seemed as though he had to this girl. She came to the conclusion that he wasn't open with her. Or, if he had been, then he was not any more. An uncomfortable feeling sat on her abdomen. She was unsure how to handle the situation. Part of her wanted to find consolation with her father, but she knew that Hercule would only try to destroy Gohan at the slightest notion that he was unfaithful.

A blonde dropped a few heavy binders on her desk without any sort of grace. She let a pensive smile out at Videl. The worried wife flinched a bit, causing her companion to laugh. "You were spaced out, I wanted to wake you up with some paperwork."

"Thanks," Videl sourly noted. The only person at Herc-Corp that made more money than Videl did was Juuhachi. Stunning despite her age, and chronically sarcastic, the older woman's greatest interest was money. She had something of a friendship with Hercule. Videl always wondered about the mysterious job Juuhachi had in the company, but never asked her father about it. She'd always intended on doing it, but somehow never found the words to ask. It was unlike her.

Juuhachi let a few strands of her hair fall into her eyes before pushing it behind her ear. Her hair was tightly set in a bun. She wore a suit and she was perhaps one of the only women that could wear a tie and only look more profound for it. There was an air of control about her that was unnerving, Videl decided. Even so, the woman seemed to be analyzing Videl. "Something is on your mind."

It wasn't a question or an invitation. That was the oddest part about Juuhachi. She didn't pretend to care, but at the same time she commented on it all the same. Videl leaned back in her chair and sighed, "I feel like an old woman. My daughter is growing up and my husband and I are growing apart."

The older woman leaned against a wall, nodding a bit. "That does happen. But you and Gohan haven't really been particularly loving towards each other in years."

Videl resented the truth of it all, but sighed, "I know. And now he's got this teaching job and he always comes in late, and imagine this: some half-drunken little girl comes over a while back to my house. It had to be one of his students."

Juuhachi raised a brow, "Is that so? Do you think something is going on?" Her voice was even. She was good to talk to, perhaps because of her indifference. She wasn't one to gossip, and she very seldom offered advice that wasn't good. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"All I know is that Gohan's been kind of in and out of funks for the past few years. He's not just job-hopping, he hasn't stayed in one field since he came back to work." Videl sighed, glancing through the papers.

"Oh, that's right." Juuhachi nodded a bit in response, "Gohan used to stay at home with Pan."

"I half wish it could have stayed that way." Videl sighed, "Maybe this wouldn't be happening. I mean, it can only speak for his unhappiness. He's almost forty. Why wouldn't he be getting interested in some young girl that's probably just learning how to flirt and playing around with him?" Videl honestly wished that she could go back to the times where he stayed at home with Pan. Those were great days, where his attention was completely on his family, and she was happy.

Juuhachi nodded knowingly. "It does seem like he's unhappy, if he's making all these drastic changes over the years. But do you think that means he's cheating on you? I mean, he didn't invite the kid over, did he?" She looked at the dark haired woman patiently.

Videl shook her head, looking down a bit, "I wouldn't know. I didn't even know he was there that night. He seemed like he'd fallen asleep on the couch. I mean, when he answered the door, there was just this look on his face. It's been months and I can't get it out of my mind. Just a slight blush, when he saw her he looked like he felt guilty. Or something. I don't know. I never talked to him about it. He didn't even mention it to me. Nothing happened, I watched the entire time. But at the same time..."

"It seemed like _something _was happening?" Juuhachi revised, considering the situation in its entirety. A man unable to cope with his age, feeling unsatisfied with his life or at least like he hadn't fulfilled something in it. A troubled younger girl, probably flirtatious and attractive bonding with him. It didn't seem like the modest, soft-spoken Gohan to be an adulterer. He seemed to come from a fairly structured, moral family. He seemed to have held on to those values. But then again, a man unhappy with his life as it was could be convinced to do a lot of things.

"Yeah, it did." Videl sighed. It was a sigh so hard that she felt tears rising up and a very numbing pain across her chest. "I just feel like I'm losing control of so much in my personal life right now." Her voice cracked.

Juuhachi moved from her spot, an awkward concern rising up. She was not so amazing with crying, emotional women and half-regretted talking to Videl. She patted the woman gently on the back a few times, "It's okay. He's probably not doing anything. But you know..." Juuhachi trailed off, letting Videl look up through half-tears in question. "You know, you can't keep trying to keep Gohan under your thumb like this. If he's doing all of this stuff, then maybe he's trying to assert himself a little bit more. I don't think he's happy with you as the primary bread winner. I don't think he's happy that you wanted him to just stay home with Pan so much."

"But he didn't _need _to work. Why wouldn't he want to stay home and love our daughter? He seemed to enjoy it for some time. I mean, you're right. Towards the end there were so, so many nasty fights. I'd never seen him so angry." Videl shook her head in tearful confusion. She suddenly felt a maddening pressure and she didn't know why or what for.

Juuhachi sighed a bit, patting her a few more times. She spoke in a somewhat soothing voice now, more comfortable that the tears subsided. Juuhachi was really not much of a nurturing creature. "That's sort of emasculating him, don't you think?"

"So I should just sit at home and be the happy housewife, then?" Videl felt a bit of anger flickering up. Indignance was laced in her voice. Juuhachi debated pointing out an obvious hypocrisy.

"That's not what I said. I just said that if he wasn't happy with that being his full time job, you were just as oppressive as any controlling husband might be to try to force him to do it for so many years. I mean I know you held out for several years." Her words were sharp. They cut Videl like knives.

"I wasn't trying to do that. I just wanted to have a perfect house. I'm not even a little bit controlling." Videl shook her head. "And besides, this has nothing to do with that girl. Or do you think that was my fault, too?"

Shaking her head at the absurdity of emotions, Juuhachi felt herself resigning from the conversation. She only seemed to be upsetting the woman more. She was going to have to come to peace with the fact that both she and Gohan had flaws if she wanted to save her marriage, and she was going to have to come to peace with the fact that she _was _controlling and Gohan _was _unhappy if she wanted to better their relationship. The same stray strip of blonde hair fell in her cloudy blue eyes once again. "Look, I'm not saying that. I'm not at all. I've got to go run some errands, but I was just trying to say that if you think Gohan is cheating on you or thinking about it, if you really do, then you need to confront him about it. But first you might want to confront some of the other aspects of the marriage that might be making him consider straying."

Videl looked down. She felt miserable. She hoped Gohan was happy, with all the trouble he'd caused.

* * *

When semester finals rolled around, Bura still had yet to surface in class. Torankusu apparently decided to send her on some expensive vacation as a birthday present and worked it out with Patel so that all she had to do for credits for that semester was test out of the finals. This, as opposed to taking her out of Orange Star completely seemed to be the better option and Patel of course paraded about. Gohan was once again to be the keeper of the young woman. Gohan rubbed his head, looking down at his laptop. He was glaring at Bura's schedule for the next year. She was to be with him for three periods a day, math and two study halls, one of which functioned as a humanities course. He was free to decide her course work as long as during it she could show proof that she had been doing some sort of independent research project.

_Yeah, right. _Gohan thought. Spending half the day with her. He wondered how she would feel about it. She hadn't called or emailed or visited him since he'd last seen her. And yet the school administration moved the stars for her. Deals, deals. That's all it was. They cut deals. Bura had to test out of very advanced art history and music theory course tests to be given credit for both semesters so that she could sit with him and smile brightly during his conference periods.

If they wanted to do the girl a favor, they should have taken her out of Pittans' course, but that was his personal opinion on the matter. He wrinkled his nose in distaste at the woman. She was avidly pushing to fail the young girl for the year. Self righteous and pompous as ever, Gohan half wondered if by the following year they'd have him just sit in a room and personally teach her every subject.

_They must think my success rate is amazing. _Occasionally, Patel would email him about some other problem student. _They don't pay me enough for this. _Gohan, although idealistic and helpful, did not want to become the go-to man for all of the troubled rich kids of the world. And so Patel would only hint at him working with students and so Gohan would only pretend to be stupid enough to not know, _"Oh, really? Well, I'm sorry he's been such a problem this year for you. If his mother were Buruma Briefs you could just get him a teacher... Oh, but I can't. You know how Bura is. She only responds when she doesn't have an audience. I simply can't." _

* * *

"I hate school." She was half-sulking. He laughed at her, sliding in next to her on the couch. He made to look over to see if she'd gotten any studying done, and she returned the gesture with a bit of a glare, "I'm doing it."

"I hate school too." He nodded, "But I got you out of as many classes as I could. They're going to be asses about it. I hate those people, all of them." Torankusu put an arm around her shoulder.

Bura's thoughts moved back to Profe, but she dared not say anything. Her brother got testy when she mentioned Son Gohan in a positive light. She wanted to defend him. He either didn't like or didn't trust Gohan, and it was all tied in to his intense disdain for all that was Orange Star and it's corrupt administration. Bura sighed, looking down at the books sprawled out before her on the floor. Even so, she did not look forward to returning to school.

"So do you mind if I ask what you _are _doing with your life?" Torankusu asked casually, but he eyed her a bit. She sighed. Immediately she felt that pressure, the one she knew to avoid immediately. She gave him a sort of pained look and a shrug, and he laughed. "It's okay. I don't know either."

"Yes you do," Bura giggled at him, "You're going to be the president of CapsCorp. You were born to do it." She gave him a silly little nod and he nudged her off the couch in return.

"They're only lucky I actually want to." Torankusu smiled down at her on the floor, making noises as she glared up at him indignantly.

She readjusted herself and stood up, "I thought that you flat out refused to at one time?"

"I did." Torankusu leaned back, smiling to recall the days of his real youth. "I don't know. I just ended up getting interested in business and technology anyway. So things sort of sorted their own way out. I remember I was just sitting there after I'd taken a tour of what would one day be mine and I was thinking 'damn, this would be really cool.' Everything there is completely state of the art, it's all high tech, and I'm not exactly the premiere inventor that Grandpa or Mom are, but we just fit. You have to find something that you can just fit into. And sometimes you don't know it's there."

Bura sighed and looked down at the books. She didn't really feel like she'd "just fit" into anything. For whatever reason there were always offers for her to model constantly. While she was at first very interested in the prospect, she soon tired of the idea and rejected all of the pitches. She didn't want to be a movie star or a singer. She had a problem with authority. Nothing in particular really jumped out at her. Torankusu gave her something of a reassuring smile, as though he sensed her pessimism, and let the subject drop.

"Do you want to go make smores?"

"It's raining outside."

He grinned, "It's not raining in the labs and they've got some great stuff we can set on fire."

"Can't we just-"

He hushed her quickly with a sharp, "Shh! It's way more fun this way."

* * *

"I have not seen you in quite some time. Why, hello there, Miss Briefs. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me." Gohan smiled brightly at her. It was the start of a new semester and Gohan could not hide his optimism. He truly felt like it was time for turning over a new leaf and making changes for the better.

In return, she just smiled at him, "They didn't know what to do with me, so they threw me in your class eight times a day."

He nodded and shrugged, "It's not like I'm doing anything." It got quiet for a damned moment. Gohan looked at her, feeling awkward and unsure why. He wanted to find some way to tell her he missed her, that he'd thought of her often and that he worried about her. But he did not know how to do so. And Bura wanted in some way to tell him that her brother insulted the entire school system, but she wanted to stand up for him. She did stand up for him. And she'd missed him. But both felt that sentimentality was just too much and they opted to remain silent.

"I had a great time, though." She sat down at a desk near his. "I saw a lot of amazing places. I met some really interesting people." She smiled at the memory. Gohan noticed her hair had grown a bit longer. In other words, she'd grown. He wasn't there for that growth and he felt the distance. It bothered him immediately, but he shook his head a bit when she looked at him.

"Where exactly did you go?" He folded his arms over his chest. Bura looked at him, quirking a brow. She was curious about his behavior, he seemed like he was uncomfortable or distracted. She wanted to talk about that, she liked talking about him.

She looked down at the desk, tracing shapes into it with her small finger, "Everywhere, really."

"Descriptive."

"Tell me about what's been going on with you."

Gohan looked at her hard for a moment, "Alright. I was just planning on taking a trip to see my parents this afternoon. I don't know if my wife knows and I don't care. I haven't seen my daughter in about three days, but supposedly that's normal."

"Sounds like you really wear the pants in your household." Bura looked up at him, cheery, sarcastic smile ever apparent.

"Oh, I do." Gohan said. He never really thought about it, honestly. But no one ever wanted to be the passive one in the relationship.

Bura perked up, "But it sounds like your wife is the one that kind of holds the reigns..."

"She _wants _to control me. She _can't _control me. That's the thing." Gohan shook his head. He felt an influx of odd emotions towards the topic. Some part of him thought that his relationship with Videl had reached a nice plateau and wasn't particularly terrible. Another part of him was demanding liberation, and another part of him was simply bitter that there was so little interaction between the two. And virtually no intercourse.

Bura just laughed in return. He'd been leaning against his desk, and was somewhat confused when she moved behind him to sit at his desk. Gohan cocked a brow, "And just what are you doing?"

She smiled up at him, indicating that she wasn't feeling up to responding to him at that moment. Bura began shuffling through his desk. She seemed like she was looking for something specific, but in reality she just wanted to see what he had. In one drawer he had a stamp. He'd never used the stamp, it was just in there. Upon finding its sister ink pad, she began stamping random things: her hand, a few graded papers that she knew he'd never give back, his hand.

"Hey!" Gohan looked down at the wet blue ink. She seemed to think it was hysterical, and he could only roll his eyes. Gohan just rolled up his sleeves and shook his head, "I hope you're having fun in there."

"Oh, I am, Profe." She smiled up at him. She had a thing for muscular men, and she fought to not look up. It wasn't like she suddenly had complete visual access to his body, but it was enough of a hint to interest her. She blinked upon seeing something small touch the tip of her nose, bounce off of it, and then fall to the floor. And again to see her hit once more. She looked up, Profe'd been throwing little balls of paper at her. She smiled despite herself, "Stop it!"

"I have pretty good aim, huh?" His grin all the wider, he let up on the paper balls. Gohan looked down at his hands, proud of himself. He felt that playfulness in the conversation that moments before he found missing. He was even grateful for it.

Bura looked up at him, now unfolding and folding a small bit of paper that'd fallen into her lap. "Then why do you wear glasses?" Her eyes were curious. Some reason or another, she just liked to hear him talk. She hated it when he asked about her, but she enjoyed knowing those little trivial things about him. It made her feel superior to other people, in a way, that she'd formed something of a bond to him that he shared information about his personal life with her.

Gohan glanced at her for a second, and in an matter-of-fact tone, "They make me look smart." She rolled her eyes at this, but he nodded to it with a great amount of certainty.

"You _are_smart, Profe." It gave him something of a rush to hear that. He was almost touched to think that she actually did think fondly of his intelligence, she seemed to have so little respect for so many others'. Gohan grinned stupidly at her.

Gohan smiled, leaning against her desk to face her. With a gesture of his hand, he added, "It reasserts the obvious. It could be seen as a fashion type thing."

"Not likely." Bura shot down quickly with a giggle. Gohan just shook his head in defiance, and she laughed more. She realized that despite all of her irritation with him, she really missed talking to Gohan. She missed him more than she'd accounted for. Only her brother could make her laugh this much. She felt fun and happy and sunny.

"You don't think I'm a cool looking dude?" Gohan asked at her laughing voice.

Bura sarcastically sang, "Real trendy in a suit every day." She laughed at his expression. His eyes seemed wider, giving away his playful admission. In reality, he wore very nice, tailored suits. She recognized the brands and approved of them.

Gohan looked down at his suit, touching his shirt as though protecting it from her words, "I suppose I'm supposed to be wearing something else to work?"

Having Bura several times a day could potentially be a very good thing. Gohan gathered from the catcalls that she was single again. Rumors were everywhere and Bura seemed to rise above them. Bura seemed to enjoy the attention. She didn't have any real homework to do, and they spent much of the day talking of silly, irrelevant things. When she turned up at his room for detention, he was surprised. "I didn't think you would come," he admitted. He instantly regretted it, he didn't want to imply that she didn't have to.

Bura shrugged, "Habit, I guess. Are you going to go see your parents tonight?" She looked at him from over his books. It was so interesting, the way that things looked from a different perspective. She watched his belt buckle shine just a little bit in the sunlight. She sat on top of her desk and let her bag drop to the ground without ceremony. He sat on top of a neighboring desk. They were equals now.

"I actually think I will. My mom cooks very well." He brushed a bit of hair out of his face thoughtfully. He was talking to the air more than he was her. The room was very bright from the afternoon sun. Spring not yet upon the city, it was somewhat surprising to see. He considered it all, and thought decidedly that he really would go. It would always do him some good, being there.

"Is that where you got it from?" Bura asked, recalling he'd mentioned his cooking. She wanted him to cook for her. None of the members of her family could cook particularly well. She was included in that.

"I guess I mostly learned from when I would occasionally have to live on my own." Gohan nodded, considering it. He watched his mother cook, but he never really took any sort of formal lesson from her. It never really came to mind to either of them. ChiChi was a somewhat traditional woman and probably figured that the wife he would one day have would cook for him. Gohan tried to hide a smile at the idea of Videl cooking. It was rarely a pleasant experience.

She frowned for a bit as if in thought. "How could your mother have consented to something like that? Did your dad put his foot down that you had to do it or something?" Bura could see a man that looked like Gohan, maybe a little bit taller, tanned, being controlling in a household. She imagined a very small, pale mother submissively agreeing to her husband's whims.

"Well, my mother actually was more dominant than my father." He laughed a little bit at the memory, "She was an amazing person, but she had a quick temper. I think, in the end, she just had respect for my father and believed that what he believed in was right even though it wasn't what she wanted. She was also raised as the daughter of a very respected martial artist of another day, so even though she acts like she might not, I do believe she has a great respect for fighters. After all, she was one, too, at one time."

"So everyone in your family is really into martial arts?" The image changed, but it was fuzzy. What a queer household.

"Well, not so much. My little brother got pretty lazy. He's a little meathead. You know, my mother actually trained him. My father was kind of MIA for a while."

This seemed to have struck something of a chord. Bura looked down, playing with a paper on the desk and in a tone she meant to be indifferent, she asked, "And your mother didn't mind?"

"She loved him. We all loved him. What was there to mind?" Gohan looked back on it. He knew better than to try to explain the _whole _story to Bura. She did have a point, but it was a point that only came up in the darkest, most selfish days in the Son household. They simply tried to trust in him and not be resentful of him. It didt' always work, but it was an effort that they all made. Gohan sometimes wondered if Goten resented Gokou most of all. Their relationship could be seen as strained in a way, for Goten very rarely visited or called. He seemed very loving towards their mother, but Gohan detected that very subtle feeling that Goten _wanted _Gokou to have been present and he simply wasn't for large periods throughout his entire life. He tried to consider it impartially, for he was very devoted to his father and at the same time he sympathized with the pains his brother felt.

"Well, he wasn't there for you." Bura felt a little bit dizzy. She was drawing circles on the paper now with her finger. She refused to look up at her Profe. In that, she gave away her true sentiments. The story seemed all too familiar in an eerie way.

Gohan blinked. They were talking about Bura's father, now. "Do you know where he is?"

"It's not really a big deal, is it?"

Gohan wanted to say that it was. He wanted to say that there were circumstances, and he felt guilty that they had come into these waters. He always thought that once Vegeta was mentioned, he would come to a better understanding of Bura. In some ways, he had. The man was enigmatic, and so was she. She spoke of him and herself very little. She was a quite guarded thing, and it would take more time and trouble to get the entire story out.

* * *

"Something is on your mind." He turned on his serious face as he stopped in front of a somewhat dazzling scene. There was a gentle stream flowing. Life all around. It was as peaceful as it was pleasant. To prove that he was going to be stubborn, Gokou sat down on a rock and watched the stream with tender regard.

Gohan sighed to himself. He hadn't been expecting his father of all people to press the issue. Gokou generally respectfully kept quiet about things if he stated that nothing was wrong. But there were these rare moments of paternal duty that he would trick him into thinking that they were going to be sparring, and instead he would take him deep away from his mother into the forest and try to talk to him. Gohan sat down as well, wondering where to begin. Or if he should even say anything at all. "Really, Dad, nothing's wrong-"

"That's a lie." Gokou smiled at him. He picked up a stone and let it drop into the lake. Gohan felt almost mesmerized by the ripples. "Your mother's been worried. I'm glad to see you, we haven't seen you so much in years. We both hope this continues. But.."

"You want to know what's wrong."

"I want to know what it is you're hiding from." Always blunt, Gokou responded. Gohan was always surprised these gems of moments when Gokou proved that for all of his optimism, he wasn't a completely blind fool. Gohan wondered over the years exactly how well his father could read people, what he was thinking when he looked at them.

Gohan sighed. He didn't want to reveal Bura, so he opted to speak of the other woman in his life. "You know how Videl is. I love her, but being around her can be stifling sometimes. Pan's growing up. She's not at home very often."

Gokou raised a brow. He seemed to have already detected there was something else, but was wondering how to get to it. "Is it just hard to watch things changing?"

The professor shook his head, "It's not that. It's that things at home seem so pathetically tied together that I just need a distraction."

"And you found one?" Gokou asked.

"Of course I did." Gohan said before he thought about it. He bit his lip, and added, "I've been coming over here." Gohan tried to look up at the sky and avoid his father's curious gaze.

"You have another distraction, don't you?" Gokou inquired, looking straight at his son. His black gaze forced the younger man to look over at him. Gohan looked uncomfortable and even pained for a moment, and dropped his head. He could not in good conscience admit out loud to having an attachment to another. He watched that damned little blue stamp on his hand hard.

"Yes," he finally said, in his softest, most defeated voice, "I do."

* * *

Well, I really wanted Videl to have some more show time. I was feeling at something of a standing point here. I know half the fun is the idea that Bura is that much younger than Gohan, but barely sixteen vs. thirty seven? It's not happening for me. I don't like it. I think that the story would have a better feel to it if there was A. more time for a real bond to grow between our leading lady and gent, and B. I just don't think Gohan would do it. I've known people with fewer morals that waited it out. I'm trying to find a compromise right now. There will be romance, I understand if you think this is dragging, but I don't want this to be a conveniently-written odd couple fic. Refer to Bad Assumptions if you want one like that. I'm not going to completely make Videl this intolerable, cheating, crazy bitch, and I'm not going to make it easy for Gohan to want to be with Bura. I will tease you with at least one close scene per chapter. And yes, pretty much all of the cast members will make some sort of cameo.

**Reviewer's Corner:**

**Ec-Rud-Girl: Hey there. I'm glad to see you back again. Bura can be somewhat confusing. She's playful but at the same time very calculating. **

**Chimney Leaf: I like the odd couples. I think they're fun. I'm actually a fairly conflict oriented writer, which makes this a very interesting try for me. I half feel like the story is dragging, but the other half of me is saying that Gohan in particular needs more than to just decide on a whim that he's going to be unfaithful. I do try to go back as I can and edit out the weird grammar, but it does escape me sometimes. I tend to write the entire chapter in one to three sittings. This chapter had a lot more dialogue in it, which is more typical of me, but I felt it was necessary to keep things moving along. **


	7. Disaster: Seven

**Disaster**

Trunks sighed to himself and hung up the phone. If only his job lacked the politics. There were always concessions, always some sort of sacrifice to make way for something else. He felt as though he may have been managing monkeys.

He looked up through the window and smiled. Good things were going to happen soon. His mother was getting tired. He knew it wouldn't be long at all before she completely let go of the company.

With a sigh, Trunks returned his attention to the paperwork before him. He signed what seemed like sheet after sheet after sheet. Boring though it seemed, he had a great grasp on the concepts of sacrifice and responsibility. He knew well that not everything was always fun and games.

He wished that Bura would learn about that. She'd been living with him for a while now. His mother's calls slowed. She stopped checking up on the girl constantly. While initially it was a bit irritating, his feelings shifted. He knew Bra herself noticed and anticipated depression on her part. The older brother knew that she tended to be more sensitive to such things than she always let on.

Speaking of things she was sensitive too... Trunks pushed the paperwork aside with annoyance. _Male figures. _With Bra, it was always some boy. Always some good-for-nothing boyfriend, always that _Profe _character. He'd developed a small amount of respect for this Son Gohan, but at the same time he found more of an annoyance at his sister's tiny crush developed on him.

What else could it possibly be? She prattled on about him constantly, she stayed after school, he went on her computer and she'd been _emailing _him. And he responded. It seemed unhealthy to him. He appreciated that he kept her in line at school and she was acting out because she didn't know how else to handle herself, but he wondered when the line was going to be crossed.

He picked up the phone. Perhaps it would be in order to call the school, or Professor Son himself and schedule a meeting. Let him know that he was onto him, let him know that his sister was not someone that could easily be taken advantage of. And honestly? _Any _man was capable of taking advantage of an intelligent, beautiful, and wealthy young woman like Bura.

He admired his sister but doubted her judgment when it came to men. The dial tone weighed heavy against his ear. He sighed, yet again, and set the phone down. Maybe he would give this more time. After all, girls crushed on their teachers. They did when he was at that age, they surely did before, and it didn't seem to be all that big of a deal now.

In fact, maybe a stable, intelligent, mature adult would be a good idea. Maybe her priorities would change when it comes to dating. Perhaps she would stop looking for a boyfriend from a sexual standpoint.

Everyone matures in a different way after all.

* * *

"You know soon you'll only have two years left. You really ought to start thinking about what you're going to do about that." Gohan raised a brow, pulling off his jacket. With the spring came heat, and the classrooms got hot. As the afternoon progressed it became so stifling in the room.

Bra seemed uninterested in the talk at best and at this point Gohan knew that it wouldn't be particularly interesting to her to try to continue with it. She didn't seem to know what she wanted to do. Her answers regularly changed, and although all of them were good-hearted ideas (veterinarian, doctor, and so on) she never seemed to entirely decide on any one thing.

Other people seemed to not think this to be a big deal. _Bra Briefs has plenty of money. She doesn't need a job, because you only need a job if you don't need money. _

He resented these ideas. He wanted Bura to live a fulfilling life, and yet at the same time he gained greater insight into the mind of the teen girl between Pan and Bura and his other students, to some extent. Pressing the matter seemed to only annoy them or make them feel as if they weren't respected.

It was always such a fine line to walk, with these girls. Pan had been acting out more and more and his attentions towards Bra became more platonic for it. As he couldn't entirely control Pan's activities anymore, he tried to Bra's. It seemed like he was spending more time with Bra anyway. Their identities seemed to mesh. It was an odd relationship in his mind.

"You aren't paying attention to me." She said flatly with her arms on her hips. She was glaring at him light-heartedly and he could not stifle the chuckle. _She was cute. _

Since that afternoon with his father when he admitted out loud what he'd been considering for so long, he realized the absurdity of it all. _She was his student. _It was his job to advise her and protect her. He began forcing himself to see her as such. He couldn't break the bond that they created. The only way to do that would be to change schools.

That had indeed become an option. Other private schools as well as public institutions offered him money and position. Black Star wanted Bura, badly. And they were willing to _buy _Gohan for her. They figured that she would follow, and to the very least they assumed that he was an excellent teacher of all subjects.

"I'm sorry, Bra, what was that?" He flashed her a smile and it was contagious.

"I was saying that I've been hanging out with this guy. You aren't listening to me." She shook her head at him with annoyance.

Those were, of course, the last words he wanted to hear. "I suppose," he said, pushing his glasses up as if putting on his armor, "that he's some hothead?"

Bra sat on her desk, shrugging a little bit. "Oh, he's great. He's so hot!"

"Yeah?" Gohan asked, marking grades on paper after paper. He tried very hard to focus and felt uncomfortable. She ignored his reaction completely and he wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or because she was that excited about him.

"Actually… he's older." She sighed dreamily, shrugging a little bit. "I have to admit, it's kind of a secret."

"How can it be a secret? You're telling me." His voice was monotone. She was like Pan, a young woman that he needed to protect and not be attracted to. She was his student; it was his job to educate her and to some extent carry out her punishment for being an awful brat and keep her in line.

His thoughts were interrupted by Bra's laughter, but he felt as if his train of thoughts were about to hit upon something important. He frowned. "From my brother, silly. He's my brother's friend."

"Oh yeah? How is that a good idea?" Gohan felt a bit alarmed at this. Torankusu was a _man. _An adult. She had absolutely no business in the world being with an adult like that! She was entirely too young and it was simply an awful idea. His mind began racing. He needed to dissuade her from doing this somehow, some way.

"Well, he's a little bit younger than Trunks but they've known each other since forever. I actually know him through my best friend though. She's older than me too. For a while I thought she liked him."

"Did she now? He seems ever-so popular." Sour tone.

Indifference to it, "Yeah, for a while maybe she did. But she's on to other things. In fact she may have a crush on a couple of guys right now, one of which being my older brother." Bura giggled, "That would be too much."

Gohan glanced up at the clock. She only had so much time left. He pushed the papers to the side and signed her detention slip. Bura felt a little sad at that. She wanted to talk to him more, but her thoughts were quite suddenly consumed.

Oh, the fickle mind of the young woman. Her heart was suddenly completely and totally his. The only thing that seemed to occur to her was allowing Profe to know about him. On some level perhaps she was attempting to make him jealous. She knew about their brief, ambiguous talks and their long emails. She felt as though he was one of her close friends, he knew so much about her.

Bra packed her bag in response to the signing of the slip, "Well, I guess I ought to go then."

"See you tomorrow afternoon, Miss Briefs." Gohan said. He did not look up from his desk. He wasn't trying to sound nasty or rude, but he could tell from the stiff manner in which she exited the room that he'd offended her. He sat in silence for a while. In fact, the sky was tinted and purple tones were sailing across the sky. He could recall once a long time ago that Bura had remarked on how it must look at night, the skyline. He wanted to enjoy it, but instead he packed his things and left.

The way home was long and exhausting in its own right. Gohan sought to find comfort in the fact that for almost a month he'd been good about pushing Bura from his thoughts and desires. His father hadn't clearly stated anything regarding these impure thoughts of his, but he knew they absolutely had to stop.

And now, this. A new guy. He cringed to think of the last essentially real boyfriend she'd had, not that he lasted long. He remembered the fight well on school grounds, he actually would have been in quite a bit of trouble had Patel not crowned him the golden one.

_Why is she so damned important to these people?! Because of her wealth?! Because of her name?! _

Gohan felt furious. No wonder at all that Bura was so troubled sometimes. People just didn't care about her; they cared about her status and money. It drove him mad.

When he entered the house, Pan was there. She gave him a bit of a look. Her image had changed over the months, her hemline went higher and her shirts got tighter. It made him cringe inside to see that the tomboyish girl that he'd been so close to and had such a bond with before was now a stranger in his own home.

To some extent it was his fault. He hadn't given her enough attention perhaps, but he wasn't sure how to rectify the situation. _Well, better start now! _"So how was school, Pan?"

"Fine." She seemed annoyed that he'd attempted to make contact with her. As if they'd come from two different planets, their languages were no longer the same. Their goals were no longer the same. They were on completely different pages. They were different. There was no other way to say it, and it depressed Gohan to see it.

"I see... Well are you going over to uh...your friend's house tonight?"

Pan took an obnoxious bite out of her sandwich, "You don't even know any of my friends' names!"

"Look, Pan, I'm sorry. I just had a very, very long day. And it's not as if we really talk that much. You never care to talk to me anymore, I don't know what's been going on with you--but I'd like to."

His eyes were hopeful but she was closed off to the idea. She left her food, half eaten on a napkin on the counter. When she walked out, he smelled perfume and detected a sway of the hips that he hadn't before.

Pan practically stomped up the stairs. Her father was so selfish sometimes! All he cared about was his job these days. And she was... hurt that he didn't know the name of her own best friend.

She threw herself on her bed with a huge sigh. She had so much homework to do, and no desire to do it. All she wanted to do was go and hang out these days. She eyed her report card, sticking out of her backpack on the floor. It glared back at her. She grimaced a bit.

At least he was consistent in ignoring her.

* * *

As the school year pulled to its close, he felt a great amount of anxiety about the summer. Still Bura lived with her brother, her mother presumably alone. Trunks had most control over the company, it was all very much a family affair.

Trunks decided that Bura should travel internationally over the summer. When Bura broke the news to him at the end of the week before finals would begin, his stomach lurched for a reason that was out of his control. The last thing he wanted was for May to reach its midpoint and school to let out. He was bored with class by now. He was tired of grading paper. He was bored with jealous women and didn't care about his Teacher of the Year award.

It was plated with gold, sitting on a shelf. Next to it, other awards, credits and achievements. "He surprised me with the tickets last night." She said, beaming around at him.

He wanted very badly to be happy for her, but in complete reality he felt uncomfortable with it. Unsure of their parting, despite himself, and of who she would be sharing her bed with. Not that she didn't prattle on about other boyfriends that came and went and came back and went back.

Gohan must have paused for too long because Bura frowned, "What? You don't think I should go alone, do you?"

"That's not necessarily true. It's not you I don't trust, I just wish he would have been able to be your companion." His voice was even, reasonable.

Bura's eyes and hands were focused almost entirely on the tickets. She greedily indulged herself in their existence. "I think it's a great place to spend the summer. But I go on the condition that I take language courses."

"Your brother certainly concerns himself in your education." Sour sour. Gohan swallowed.

Bura raised a brow. She took a sip of her soda, and looked down at her paper. "And after that…"

Gohan braced himself at the tone of her voice. She felt odd, watching her professor stiffen so visibly. Gohan didn't look up. The moment dragged on. "Uh, and after that I'm going to Black Star."

"Who decided that?"

"Well," Bura sighed just a little bit, "I did. Well, Trunks really talked to me. But I think he has some good points and it wouldn't be so bad to be closer to my friends in the city."

He knew what that meant. He hated that he knew what that meant, but he did. He sighed, "I can't believe your brother thinks that you would be so much better off over there though."

"I mean, my boyfriend and a lot of my close friends are out there. The people here aren't really all that great." She was doodling now. He frowned at how lightly she was taking their separation.

It occurred to him on some level that what he was about to do was inappropriate. It occurred to him on some level that he would regret the choice that he made, instantaneously, no questions asked. He would, in later days, question his sanity at that point in his life, as though she had bewitched him. He would, in later days, come to wonder what it was in his life that would loan itself to this behavior.

When Gohan stood up from his desk and walked out of the building, leaving Bura there to sit alone in his room in confusion until her detention time was up just in case he would return, his life changed forever.

* * *

See you soon you guys.


	8. Disaster: Eight

**Disaster**

He slammed her against the door. She let out a cry of surprise and pain, the wind knocked out of her. In her hurry to breathe correctly she didn't notice his hands pulling at her shirt, unbuttoning from the bottom up in a frenzy. He either got bored with it or impatient, as in his passion he literally pulled everything else off of her small frame.

He crushed his hips into hers, and as she warily whispered his name all he could do was lean into her and smile in her face and whisper back, "Shut the Hell up, Videl."

He was a conquistador, exploring her body for the good of mankind. He was trying to find redemption and glory. He wanted a blowjob. Mechanically he pushed her to her knees. He felt his hands on his belt, his button, his zipper. She got the picture. He gave the demands.

"Use your tongue."

Watching her mouth around him seemed bizarre and different to him. He looked hard into her blue eyes with complete disregard to the questions her eyes were asking. Something warped swirled in his abdomen. She worked her mouth on his length for a while before he pulled her up.

She seemed so weak to him.

Gohan kneaded her breasts. His hands were huge. The flesh that he sank his teeth into he once loved gently. The nipples that he had always been careful with he pulled and twisted. He didn't even recognize her pain. He didn't even care when she said anything at all.

He got bored with her chest and dropped to his knees. He felt her waist, her abdomen and belly button, he undid her pants. She was in shock.

He could do anything.

Never in the history of anything had he ever spoken to her before like that, he didn't even typically swear. She was confused and afraid. She didn't even see him coming. Now his lips were all over her neck and ears, his big and warm hands were all over her breasts.

Her chest was swelling. The blood inside of her veins was pumping. She could hardly breathe. It occurred to her that she needed to regain control of the situation but despite the attention he was giving her body, there was no way to get him to focus on her.

For the very first time in a long time, he took what he wanted.

His eyes seemed so black. It was getting dark outside and no one bothered to turn on a light. She almost considered fighting back against him but there was something about the way that he moved, something about how callous and cold that gave her the impression that it didn't matter to him at this point.

And when he entered her, she'd never felt more disheveled. Her breasts hanging awkwardly out of her bra, his pants about his ankles, they moved together with chaotic motion and force.

He smirked down at her, half scoffing and half laughing. It was a clumsy fuck to be sure. _She doesn't even know what to do with me. _He pulled his open shirt off and let it slide coolly to the floor. She stared at him. He picked her up.

"We're not done."

"Gohan-"

"What?" He snarled into her as he straddled her. Something about all of this seemed operational to him. He kept playing scenes in his head. _I am a moron. _

He had no reaction, no emotional response. A dialogue was going on between his heart and his body but they tuned out his mind most entirely. All he knew to do was to keep going. All he knew to do was to crash into Videl, all he thought to do was to push it forward.

He thought about giving her a baby. If she'd said anything in response, he didn't hear her or he was tuning her out. He was really good at that, he learned. He thought about giving her a bruise. He was more powerful than most things.

He had control over most things, he just decided to live within the system.

To keep his laces straight.

No one could retaliate against him.

He could have her any way he wanted her, he could do it any way he wanted to. But suddenly he felt waves of depression and futility hit him. Killing his fun, spoiling his rebellion. He wasn't even enjoying the sex he'd literally been begging for for months. He wasn't cherishing the wife he once strove to take out always. He wasn't even paying attention to her confusion and hurt. Only sex.

That's all it was.

At some point, she must have gotten it because instead of feeling her hands pushing against his chest, he felt her arms on his back. He literally felt her moaning. Somehow this was worse than the reluctance.

And when he was done with her, he was naked on their marital bed and from his discarded jacket he pulled out and lit two cigarettes at once. He passed one to her. She was sweating and breathing hard, "Gohan..."

He'd heard his name so many times. He took a drag and examined the box. They were Bra's. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to lift her cigarettes.

"I didn't know you smoked." She finally said.

_You don't know a lot about me anymore these days._

"Gohan, I'm worried about you."

She was holding the cigarette but not smoking it. He'd finished his and put it out on the nightstand right next to the photo of them on their honeymoon. He just stared at it for what felt like a million years, and then snapped out of it and grabbed hers. He finished it.

"Just call my brother. We're having dinner together. Then you should clean up."

* * *

When the phone rang, he'd been searching about his place for towels to clean it off of her. Despite how awkward it seemed, she was actually rather patient. He was impressed.

He threw a towel from his bathroom at her when his brother's name flashed on the screen. "Sorry. I have to take this."

Moving out to his patio, he answered the call, "I haven't heard from you in a while."

"Why would you? Goten, its Videl." The cold voice on the other side of the phone made him inwardly sink.

"What do you need? Is there something wrong with my brother?"

He could hear her swallow. Then she was breathing really hard.

"Woah, woah, Videl, calm down. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude," He peaked at her, still naked on his bed through the curtains, "I was just busy. But I'm done now anyway."

"Goten, something is-"

Suddenly he could hear another voice in the background. The voice of a man he assumed to be his brother. He sighed. "Videl, just let me talk to him." Goten reached for a bottle of water on the patio table. He took a swig.

She picked the phone back up, "He wants to take you out to dinner. Come by our house, we'll have drinks and then go out."

He almost choked on the water. "He wants... to see me?"

"You're his brother, Goten. Gohan loves you very much. Just come. See you soon."

Goten stared at his cell phone for a few moments after Videl hung up. He pushed the curtains back and re-entered his room. "I need to go. I'm sorry. It's my brother."

"What?" She frowned at him.

He sighed impatiently, "I don't know. I think something's wrong or something. He doesn't typically see us anymore. Not that he called me himself."

She was dressing herself. That was something else great about her. She didn't complain about leaving. She had no expectations of staying. "Who called, then?"

"It was his wife."

"You don't talk about your brother very much."

"We're not close."

"Guess he wants to change that." She was putting her shoes on. He smiled at her, nipped her shoulder. Felt her small body.

"I'm going by to see your brother about some business later. You should stick around the compound."

She turned around and looked at him for a moment. He could see a tiny fraction of sadness in her eyes, but instead of questioning him she just nodded and left, her bag in hand. He didn't offer her a ride back. He just went into his bathroom, turned on the shower, and scrubbed cheap sex off of his body.

* * *

Gohan was dressing himself when she exited the shower. She'd 'cleaned herself up.' She tried to come be by him. Touch his shoulder. "So why the sudden desire to see your brother?"

"Because he's my brother."

"That's fair enough," she evenly responded, "but is something else... going on?"

"No."

Videl sighed. She closed her eyes. "I need to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Are you having an affair?"

Gohan scoffed.

She frowned, "What is that, Gohan? What type of response is that to such a serious question?"

"Is it, Videl? Is it a serious question?" Gohan shook his head and adjusted his sleeves. "Because it doesn't seem very serious to me."

Videl looked at him with uncertainty, "You're not taking this seriously at all, are you? Is something going on? With... Bura? Faculty? ...Anyone?"

"I want to see my brother and you're asking me if I'm cheating on you. Great." Gohan shook his head in annoyance.

"You've just been acting weird. I don't know what to make of any of this. What just happened. You scared me, Gohan. You hurt me. What just happened? Why are you changing? It's because you're teaching. Because you're spending so much time focusing on that little girl."

Gohan scoffed again, "Look, don't drag your insecurities and jealousies into this. I wanted to fuck you and I did."

Videl looked at him and shook her head. Her first impulse was to leave. For reasons unknown to humanity, she stayed instead. Put on makeup and a nice dress.

They sat in virtual silence waiting for Goten to arrive. They anticipated his appearance for separately.

* * *

It's kind of short and I'm sorry for that.


	9. Disaster: Nine

**Disaster**

_"Emotional affair?"_

The words were shouted in shock and surprise. Immediately retreat came to mind.

He was almost running away from her. After constantly dedicating so much time to chasing after her, looking after her, caring for her and trying to know her, he was practically running in the other direction. Away from her. Away from the part of himself that wanted to stay with her.

"Why are you so angry? Talk to me!" Bra continued to pursue him like mad. He damned her stubbornness. He thought she was a sadist. Gohan had no Earthly idea what he could do to stop all or any of this from happening.

Suddenly he turns around. She abruptly stops feet away. In his most condemning voice he shouts, "Do you have any idea how much older than you he is?" She matched his deep glare indignantly.

Bra stared at him and sort of squinted, "So are you trying to protect me...?"

"What else would I be doing here, Bra?" Gohan snarled. The question was more to himself than to her, but the wide look in her eyes conveyed the anxiety she felt. His dangerous voice caused great panic in her heart. "My world doesn't just revolve around you, you know!"

"I don't know," She laughed a little bit, trying to compose herself, stopping to cross her arms over her chest. A cockiness he recognized if even vaguely came over her, "It's just _interesting _to me that you always seem to catch me with all of my boyfriends."

"This is a man, Bra! He's an adult. It's not my fault that you're acting like a silly child-"

She cut him off. "You look like him." Bra stepped forward. She was squinting at him so hard now, as if seeing him clearly for the first time. As if the lines around him had always been a little fuzzy and now they were crystal clear, sharp as his words.

"-A silly child that makes up silly things-"

"You know him, don't you?" She pointed an accusatory finger at Gohan's chest. It was in this heated moment that she stared at him angrily, as though he had something on her for the longest time. This was not a coincidence to Bura, it suddenly made the difference. Between what she did not know.

"-Silly things about silly people-"

"You're related to Goten." Bura dropped her hand. He could not deny that final tone that she used. He could not ignore her words or her voice.

_We're closer than you could ever imagine, Bura. _

Gohan looked down at the little space between the two. In their heated passion and shouting, they inched closer together. He hated to even consider the idea of an abstract "us" between Bura and himself, but shaking his head he acknowledged the obvious: the conflict dragged them that much closer together.

Her voice asked so very softly of him, "How do you know Goten, Gohan?"

Gohan closed his eyes. The silence was long and deep and painful for both of them. It was as though he had some fundamental issue in saying the words. Finally, "He's my little brother." His tone was grave. He tilted his head up slightly to glower at Bra, wanting badly to blame her for this and anything and everything. Impatience suddenly took over him as he grabbed her wrist, "Look we have to go! Now. You can't be here- I can't let you do this!" But Bra tried to yank her arm. He tightened his grip slightly, but she winced in pain. Immediately he felt remorse. _Look at what you've made me do! _

Gohan immediately let go of Bra. Bra rubbed her wrist and slowly walked backwards away from Gohan. He watched her enter his brother's apartment complex. It might have hurt but he forced himself to stay. With his keen sense of vision he saw Bra rush back in his younger brother's apartment. She took off her shirt.

Gohan nearly flinched at the sight of it, as though trying to dodge an unseen blow. He was left with nearly nothing in the parking lot, without his brother, without his wife or his family. When he stuck around to watch Bra burst through Goten's door just to rush into his arms, Gohan finally recognized that while he'd appreciated her so entirely for who she was, she only seemed to care for Goten.

So be it.

Gohan looked around for a second, and then in a burst of energy he bolted into the sky. He flew all the way home, not caring if anyone saw him or thought anything of it at all.

* * *

Bra waited long and silent for Gohan to return. When detention was over she let herself out, feeling a numbness and confusion that did not sit well with her at all. The walk back to the place that she stayed with her brother was quick, but entirely unpleasant. She was left with lingering feelings. Uncertainties.

She hadn't expected her professor to care that much. It was a shock to her, even. She also considered that perhaps something else had caused the outburst. Maybe she wasn't the reason he just left like that.

Convincing herself had not proved to be the easiest thing ever. An older man sitting at a bus stop whistled at her. She passively ignored it. Trunks' apartment was huge. When she walked in, it was also very quiet and empty. She could hear the humming of machines bustling about, preparing for his return or cleaning and maintaining the place.

Modern technology surprises us all.

Bra sat down on the couch. She decided to feed her mind some tv. Under no circumstances could she handle thinking of the incident with her professor before. And she couldn't talk to Trunks about it. Trunks responded impatiently to anything about Gohan Bra ever had to say. She knew that her brother disapproved of their friendship and closeness but tolerated it hoping that something good would come from his influence.

_What good is coming from this? _

She examined her hands.

_What good is even coming from me?_

The thoughts and depression were cut off at the sound of the phone ring. Bra looked around. The phone chirped on, happily hoping to be picked up, paid attention to. It was indifferently cheerful, it had no knowledge of Bra's emotion. The phone on her brother's desk was ringing. Hoping to catch an audience with her mother, Bra picked up the phone without thought. "Hello?"

"...Bra?"

Bra smiled at the welcome sound of his voice. "Goten! I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be you-"

"Lie!" Came Goten's cheerful response, "I don't believe that at all. Caller ID has been around forever, you just picked up because you wanted to hear from me."

Bra growled a little in mock-annoyance, "You just called because you wanted to talk to my brother!"

"Well, true enough, but that was only about business. What are you up to, Bra? You sound like you're in a bad mood."

Bra scoffed at the very idea. "I'm in a fine mood! I was just about to, uh..."

"Come over here?" Goten's voice tested the waters.

With an excitement bubbling from within, Bra forced herself to remain calm. "What, you mean you want to like, do something?"

"Well, I'm off tonight. You're not doing anything. Trunks isn't around..." His voice trailed off. The suggestion was apparent.

Bra wanted badly to seem cool to Goten, unfazed by his invitation or the prospect of spending more alone time together. "I have to take a shower and do some stuff first," she said, "But I'll be over soon."

* * *

_That's all this is, protecting her from herself. _

_That's all this is, I'm protecting her from the stupid things that she does._

_That's all this is, she's just a stupid little kid and I'm not her parent. _

_I don't have to do anything._

_I'm not obligated to feel any way._

He was practically murmuring the words to himself. Every inch of his body was radiating in self loathing and fury. It had to be Goten, of course it had to be Goten. He could handle her dating anyone in the world, older, younger, whatever-but it _had _to be Goten.

It replayed constantly inside of his skull. The door opens. Bra saunters in, a little more slowly every time. In something between expectation and playing the offensive Bra's hands go straight to her top. She stands in front of him in a lacy red bra and mini skirt. His arms fold around her.

Goten wasn't as strong, or smart, or _old _as Gohan felt when the image looped and he saw little brother's hands vanish behind Bra, his mouth close over hers.

His mouth closed over hers. If that was all he had to do to keep Bra silent these days.

The door barely even had time to close politely behind the passionate pair.

_"Emotional affair."_

Gohan flinched at the phrase. _It's like it's not good enough that I care, it's like it's not good enough that I've been trying to be a good man, do right by her and everyone, it's like it's not enough that I-_

The flight was quick. He landed with a loud thud in his backyard. Videl was home. He could sense it. Just as well.

* * *

Just as well. Dinner with Goten proved to be enlightening. There was a reason he didn't see his family, after all. It wasn't just some poorly concocted idea, their separation. Badly Gohan wanted to see his father. His brother however... a low growl in his throat was emitted.

Videl walked towards his desk. She wrapped her arms around him from behind. He continued to look down at the paper he was grading. Much to her surprise it was not Bra's. Gohan didn't look up or say a word.

"So you wanted to see your brother so badly, and then you spent all dinner making snide and sarcastic remarks to him. Should I be worried?"

Gohan could not escape his wife. He looked up a little bit at her. Her eyes were so attentive now. It was bizarre, the way women work. It seemed so shortly ago he was vying for his wife's attention without ease, her carnal affections or any for that matter. And yet work proved to only make her tired, unwilling.

"You shouldn't be worried about anything."

His tone did not make this better. Videl sighed into her husband's hair. She was leaning full into him. "Please... try to talk to me. Something's going on with you, I want to be a part of it."

Submitting to his own self pity and bitterness at this point proved useless. He didn't want to be bothered with her or anyone else, and yet there was no escape. Her arms were around him. He scratched a grade into a paper. Next.

"Gohan. Please. Please just try to talk to me. What is all of this?'

Grade. Next.

"...Gohan!" In her impatience, she assumed the worst. Tears came to her eyes.

It was Bra's paper. Something inside of Gohan ran cold and dead. He felt dread when he looked at her neat signature on the bottom of the page, the way she dotted her i's, the little doodles across the page that 'amused' her while she was forced to sit in his classroom, his domain, trudging through her homework.

He threw a failing grade on the paper and switched. Just to get her out of his face, just to get him a little further from him. Just to hurt her back, just to be petty about it.

His wife was talking but he couldn't even hear, so loud it was inside of his head.

"I've been tired. There's been a lot of pressure on me lately. But it's all almost over now, the school year's almost over now. I can just kick back and spend the summer with my family."

The tone was not that of the warm man that Videl married. She was entirely unconvinced. "Gohan, I love you. When I married you, I promised to love you forever."

"Please," he stopped her rant with an exhausted sigh, "spare me the guilt trip. You get caught up in work, I'm an annoyance. I get caught up in my job and I'm cheating on you, or not paying enough attention to the family, or something's wrong."

Videl, hurt, put her hands on her hips. Gohan stood from his desk to look at her.

"It's true. You care so much because you feel like you're losing control."

"You know, I don't think that it's fair to say that I'm being a control freak when you've completely jumped off the radar! I barely even recognize you Gohan! We never spend any time together anymore as a family, let alone as a couple-"

"As a couple?" Gohan rubbed his head, "We were together as a couple earlier today!"

"_That,"_ Videl said in an angry breath, "was most definitely not us being a couple! We might have _slept together _but we were not who we are this afternoon. You were not who you are this afternoon."

"Well, then." In a swift movement, Gohan grabbed his stack of work and shoved it in his briefcase and snapped, "Maybe I'm not who you think I am."

* * *

Things are looking pretty bad for Gohan and Videl... Will they make it through? How can Gohan run into Bura's arms if she's already preoccupied with Trunks and Goten?


	10. Disaster: X

**Disaster**

She no longer knew what to call him. She was sitting silently in his class, trying to not act out, trying to not be noticed at all. She wanted to feel small and invisible. She wanted to ignore everything that had transpired; act like that awful and unpleasant experience would go away and leave her alone forever.

He was passing out the final grade reports, "…And remember to go to your home room teacher if there is an issue with your grade." The sound of his voice made her flinch.

Her name was at the start of the alphabet. When he set the card carelessly on her desk without looking back at her she felt her stomach do a flip. She had nothing else to do, so she opened it. Her eyes skied. Her grades were better this year. Trunks would be happy.

Her eyes fell down to her last subject. Gohan's course. She raised her hand, a little uncertain.

Gohan acted like he didn't see her.

Bra bit her lip. People all around her were talking, excited about summer. She looked around, a little anxious. Overwhelmed with it all, Bra stood up and left the room. Gohan saw her go, and didn't even bother to say anything at all.

He turned back to his class. Back to the books, back to making school about learning. No more parties or absurdity. No more attraction, there was a line and he was on one side and his students were on the other.

And as it turned out, Gohan was left to sit around looking around, wondering if she was going to show up. He had hoped she wouldn't all day, and in his anger he'd ignored her and her big eyes. The sad look on her face did not escape him, but like he was angry with Videl he was angry with Bura and he wanted to punish her in much the same way…

Inwardly, he groaned. He refused to think such impure thoughts. He wouldn't come clean with himself.

Slowly a slim hand made its way around his door. He watched as she came in, report card in hand as though she wasn't supposed to be sitting with him at that very moment. "Professor Son," she said, and it sounded forced and awkward, "There's something wrong with my grade."

Gohan cocked a brow, "You should go see your homeroom teacher about it, then."

Bra shook her head, "Yeah, I heard you say that. But, the grade, you see, it's in your class."

"Oh?" He said in a weird tone. She frowned and moved closer to him.

He allowed her to point to her grade, "That's a whole letter behind my average this semester!"

"Your grade looks alright to me, Miss Briefs," He said coldly to her.

"What assignment was it, then, that could have possibly brought me down this much?"

Gohan could think of one.

"It looks to me like your homework average is particularly low." He said, putting on his glasses to examine a sheet he didn't actually need to look at to have given her that information.

So cold was he that all she wanted to do was leave. "So…" Her voice trailed off, a little pathetically.

"So work harder next semester at Black Star. Have a nice summer, Miss Briefs." When he set the grade book down and returned to his desk, he dismissed her.

"Aren't you even going to tell me what assignment it was I did that poorly in?" Bra persisted.

Gohan looked up from his desk. "I wasn't aware you cared so much about your grades. Or anything at all, for that matter."

"That's a cheap shot," she said. Her voice was a little shaky. She felt cornered even when she was the only one standing in the room. Gohan didn't respond to her. She was left to stand awkwardly watching him. Her eyes narrowed, "I copied my answers from your keys. There's no way this can be right."

Without looking up, he retorted in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Well, it's not my fault if something as simple as copying a piece of paper is beyond your intellectual abilities, Miss Briefs. Is there anything else?"

"No," she said sharply. He might as well have pointed a gun and shot her with it. "Very well, then."

Gohan watched her go.

* * *

Emotionally bankrupt and without the means to cope, Bra burst into her room. She had to run home so that no one would catch the outburst. She ignored the machines everywhere around her. When the sadness bubbled up, she didn't know what to do. So she called Marron, "He hates me, and it's never going to be okay!"

Patiently, her friend waited for her to be able to breathe on the other line. "Who hates you?"

Bra groaned a little bit. "I have something to tell you."

Marron braced herself, for when Bura said this it was always bad.

"I have this uh, friend. We've been pretty cool but I guess we kind of started liking each other. But I mean, we can't like each other because he has a wife-

"Wife?-"

"-and he's so much older, you know?"

"_How much _older?"

"I mean I didn't even think he would ever really like me back anyway. So anyway, I have had this other friend and we've known each other for a long time and yeah he's older than me too but he's definitely not married so it's okay but my other friend caught me going to see him and it ends up they're kind of brothers-"

"What?"

"-and I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, I promise, but-"

"Bra this is-"

"I mean he doesn't know or anything, that his older brother is-"

"They're seriously brothers? I can't-"

"But I mean you have to believe me, I never meant for this to ever happen and now I care about both of them and neither of them really care about me and-"

"…Bra, are you crying?"

"…"

"Bra?"

Marron heard a sniffle on the other line. She sighed a little bit to herself, "Bra, I'm coming over."

* * *

"Jesus, my little fucking sister has so many guys coming after her."

"Call it education," Goten laughed a little bit. He looked over at his friend, "What's eating you, seriously?"

Trunks rolled his eyes and looked up at his friend from his computer, "I'm just finalizing some of Bra's plans for this summer."

"You really picked up the bat on this one," Goten observed. "But Bra, why are you trying to send her so far away?"

"I think she needs some space. From the family, mostly, but also from that school."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just this _teacher, _I think that she's got a crush on him." Goten raised a brow but let his friend continue talking as he listened. "I don't know, he took it upon himself to pay attention to her and she used to talk about him all the time. I don't know," Trunks cracked his neck, a sign of his frustration and annoyance.

"What teacher?"

"It's stupid, Goten. I really do not want to think about my little sister's love life. I mean she could do without some of the attention she gets, you know? In the end, I still consider her to be a kid and yet she's got adults our age and even older trying to be with her in addition to the horny idiots that really are her age. It's just weird, and disgusting. "

Goten nodded just a little bit.

* * *

_'Son Gohan! You're the type to have issues with women later on.'_

Her voice was ringing in his head, a beautiful woman from his childhood, but he could not for all of his efforts conjure up a face to go along with it.

He went where he always went these days.

"Gohan! Did you come here to talk, Son?"

Gohan sighed and rubbed his head, "I messed up, Dad, I messed up bad."

Gokou frowned at his son a little, "How do you mean? Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, everyone's fine." Gohan stated, still unable to look at his father. "I mean it's not like that, it's not like life or death. But I'm lucky to still be married, that's what I am."

"Son…"

"It's just, Videl and I, we've been having all these fights! I mean, you and mom never really fought? Right? I mean… I don't know, I don't really remember that much. But you and mom love each other so much and I don't understand why no other family works like ours did. We all loved each other."

His father frowned just a little bit, but he was willing his son to continue speaking.

"So a little while ago I was just, I don't know, I was in a bad mood. I left work, I walked out Dad, I got in my car. I had no idea what to do with myself. It took a while, but ultimately I missed Goten and decided to go see him."

_He pulled into the complex. He was still frazzled, unsure if the intrusion would be welcome. Making his way up the stairs though, he made the mistake of looking down towards the lot. There she was. It couldn't have been a more imperfect moment. _

_Somehow, he knew it. Bra, getting out of a CC vehicle. Fixing her hair. Winking in the mirror. He watched her in agony, his blood boiling, snapping at his sanity. And his heart. _

_Somehow, he knew it. He knew why she was there, who she'd come to see. Somehow, it was more than an assumption. _

"You went to see Goten? In West City, right?"

"Yeah." Gohan said, more bitterly than he would have cared to.

"So what happened?"

"I… uh…" He lost his nerve and just looked down.

_He practically flew downstairs to meet her. "So what are you doing here, Bra?" _

_Bra looked at him, a bit confused. "Profe? Why are you here?"_

_Gohan didn't answer, staring at her hard and critical. "I just asked you."_

"_I'm uh, here to see a friend." She looked nervous like she'd been caught doing something wrong, but she was also off-guard and instantly put in a bad mood at Gohan's suspicion. _

"_Yeah? How old is that friend, Bra? How much older than you is he, your friend?" _

"Gohan… what's going on? Every time we talk you're a little closer to telling me what's going on. Why can't you tell me?"

"_Goten, alright? His name is Goten. I'm just going to see my friend Goten! What's wrong with you?"_

"_Yeah? Nice how you dodged the question, Bra." He spat at her. "So what are you going to do with your pal Goten today? What innocent and productive fun is in store for Bra Briefs and her great friend?" _

"_You're being a total ass! What is it to you?"_

"_Well it's in good fun, isn't it? That's all this is, right? Recreational." _

"_You're acting crazy!" She turned around on him._

Gohan shook his head, "I'm sorry, Dad. Some things you can barely stand living through once."

_In desperation he reached out and grabbed her arm. Maybe he was too rough, didn't know his own strength. But it was too late. His mouth was running so fast that he couldn't control the words, "Don't you think I care about you? Don't you think I care that you're running around with boyfriends like this? I thought that you were past this. Let me take you home, or go home yourself." _

"_Let me go!" Bra hissed, trying to pull herself from his iron grip. _

"_Not until you tell me you're going back home." He was absolutely determined to keep this from happening. Like it would be the worst thing in the world if she went up those stairs. _

"It's okay." Goku hadn't seen his son so upset in a while. "You know I know that you've always felt like you needed to be perfect, not just for your mom…"

"It's not just that, though. It's about watching yourself _be something _that you never thought you would be_._"

"_I don't know what's wrong with you, or where you came from, but I am not just some whore. I go out and I have fun but that doesn't mean I'm just sleeping around everywhere."_

"_It doesn't even matter, Bra! Yeah, I'm concerned about the basic health issues associated with you having sex, like you getting pregnant, wouldn't that be fun?- but seriously, what do you know about this guy?" _

"Dad, I'm so far from perfect these days…"

"_What are you trying to tell me?" Bra asked, narrowing her eyes. Defiance was spelled out in her every movement. _

_Gohan wouldn't look at her, "Look, Bra, I care-"_

"_You say that so much!" She snapped angrily, "Why don't you try to care about something else? Where's your wife? How about your daughter? Stop being so busy having an emotional affair with me or on me or whatever and go back home to your wife and leave me alone! I have someone that I think is fantastic and gorgeous and he likes me too, and I'm sorry that you don't." _

"You're never fair with yourself though, Gohan. You put all of the blame on yourself."

"But that's what I'm trying to tell you. I'm the one in the wrong so often these days I can barely stand it. I'm not discerning the difference anymore, I don't even think I _care _half the time about what right and wrong are anymore."

"_What the Hell are you talking about?" _

"_The emotional affair that you've been having!"_

"_Emotional affair? With who?" He laughed a little, coldly, "You? Bra, you're just a pain in my ass."_

"_No! You're only involved and invested in me because you hate your own family!" _

"I forced Videl to sleep with me." Gohan said suddenly. Goku paused a little bit, unsure of what he'd just heard.

"You did what, now?"

"_Emotional affair?" _ _He said it again, in disbelief and anger. And hurt. And then he knew he had to retreat, for she knew too much. _

"I was so angry! You have no idea." He could barely stand. "I came in, and I saw her there, and I don't know, I just couldn't control it-"

"What made you so angry?"

"_Why are you so angry? Talk to me!"_

Gohan choked a little bit, on himself and his own memories and his past actions, "Dad… I just… it's really complicated, okay?"

Gokou tried to find a way to ask his last question. "Gohan, where's the young lady in all of this? The distraction."

Gohan put his hands on his head again, unable to look at his father, unable to embrace his past, unable to do anything but shake his head. "It's a disaster, Dad. She's a disaster."

* * *

-CL


	11. Disaster: Bra's Chapter

**Disaster**

_**Bra's Chapter **_

"Trunks… We have an emergency. I need you over here, now." Marron whispered from behind the phone. Bura was sniffling on the bed in Trunks' guest bedroom. Trunks currently resided in a luxurious multi-level beachfront condo on the far side of the city that Marron, Bura, and every other girl in West City loved.

Sitting on the couch in the wide central room, Marron eyed her friend. She was a little distracted when she heard Trunks' tone.

"_What? What's wrong?" _He seemed… afraid.

Quick to try to dispel any extreme fears Trunks might have had, Marron responded, "Look, it's about this crush—of Bura's. She's making some pretty bad choices, okay? We have to talk to her."

"_Bad choices—what are you saying?" _

"I'll tell you when you get here."

"_Marron!" _Trunks practically shouted her name in annoyance. Nervous, Marron hung up.

Upon re-entering Bura's room, she looked at the place. Suitcases were stacked everywhere, surprisingly, some books, bras and shoes were scattered about the place.

"Who shut off the maid?" Marron asked, eyeing the mess.

Bra rubbed her face, "You didn't have to decide to call my brother, you know."

"We need to talk to him about this. Before everyone finds out that you were flirting with Goten's big brother."

"You seriously can't tell my brother about any of this!"

"Tell me any of what?" Trunks asked, his eyes narrowing so as to warn her of the seriousness this conversation was quickly approaching.

Avoiding her brother's eyes, Bura sat back on her bed. He called her name again. Marron put her hands on her hips. With resentment and hurt, Bura glared at her friend.

"If you don't start, I will."

"Why?" Bura shot back.

"Because someone needs to help you before you self-destruct. Maybe we need to learn to not get in too deep so that we avoid some of the consequences of our actions that we don't like."

"Alright you guys. You need to start talking," Trunks looked at his little sister, "Before I call mom."

Bura crossed her arms over her chest, "Look, I've been interested in this guy."

"This _married _guy." Marron added in.

Bura rolled her eyes, "-this married guy."

Trunks' eyebrow turned upwards so quickly that he had an immediate headache. His physical reaction to this wonderful news was the most fascinating thing of all. He could feel the rage inside, at both his sister and this _married guy _and along with it his brows quivered and furrowed in fury.

Marron looked on, somewhat determined. "There's more."

"How much more?" Bura eyed Marron, her voice getting a little shrill while asking her question a little too loudly, a little too demanding. "I can only handle so much of this quality time."

Trunks looked at the two. He stepped out of the room, the two women trailing behind his heels. ("Hey! Come back here, Trunks!" "Shut up, Marron! Trunks!") He felt himself fall on his couch as he began to wrap his mind around that which he despised to consider: his baby sister's sex life.

"Okay." Trunks said, finally. He sucks in air very carefully. For an instant, Trunks thinks he may pass out due to the stress of all of this. If the story _only starts _with _this person being married, _then where in the Hell does it end? Bra! How could she be so reckless? "How much more?" He was looking at Bura when he said it, while Marron was looking at Trunks.

Bura, flushed, tried hard to avoid her brother's gaze, "I'm also seeing someone else."

"Okay." Trunks said, nodding a little. That's not so bad. Maybe he was over-reacting.

Bra must have seen the look on Marron's face, because she in a somewhat hurried manner added to this, "It's his brother."

* * *

"_Bra Briefs, how wonderful to see you back."_

"_My brother says that this will be my last session."_

"_Is that so? Your brother has orchestrated this whole thing, hasn't he?"_

"_My brother is only trying to protect me."_

"_He sure pulled a lot of strings. You could have ended up in jail. How do you feel about that?" _

"_I've made a lot of mistakes but due to this therapy I've had time to come to terms with the things that I've done and the reasons why."_

"_Well said, Bura."_

_

* * *

_

Trunks stood up. He crossed the room to collect his jacket. In the side pocket he drew out a pack of cigarettes. He lit up. "Bura, are you pregnant?"

Her eyes widened with outrage, "No!" Then, she blushed, "I don't think so!" At the pained expression on her older brother's face, she snapped, "Probably not!"

Inhale. Exhale. "Okay. Fine. Probably not. Is there anything else I need to know? Like _maybe who these guys are_? These brothers?"

Bura flushed and looked at Marron. Her friend looked at the panicked expression on Bura's face. Trunks stepped forward as if warning her to cough up the information.

Marron touched her brother's arm, "No one that you know, Trunks. She's promised to end it with both of them."

Trunks looked at Marron, and then his sister for a long, tense moment. "Marron, I really appreciate your being here." He slipped his hand on the small of her back and led her towards the door. "However, I think I need to finish this conversation with my sister alone."

"Please, Trunks, don't-"

Finally, Marron and Bra were protesting for the same reason and had united once more. Bra needed a shield and a distraction. Someone that could diffuse and deflect a little bit. Marron may have had her own reasons for wanting to be _so involved _with the family, but at the very least she took the edge off of things and of course some things would only be said between the siblings. Like the discussion of what _he would think about this. _And what _mom would say about all of this. _They didn't talk about their parents unless they were alone. She never wanted them to be alone.

Trunks cut her off, slowly moving the door closer to a close behind her, "I know you want to protect my sister." He gave her a quick, warm smile. She didn't seem to really catch on to how forced it was, and as far as Trunks was concerned it was for the best that she accept his peace offering and be on her way so that he could discuss things with his sister properly. To seal the deal he said, "I promise that everything that happens after this will be because I'm trying to protect her as well. Goodbye, Marron."

The blonde was out of the room.

Trunks looked back over at his sister. He put his glasses on, sitting on the couch. Patting a seat next to him, Bra came to sit neat her brother. In the vicinity of him. Something like that. She wasn't exactly afraid of Trunks so much as uncomfortable at the prospect of this conversation.

Trunks ran a hand through his hair, medium-length lavender locks. Coloring aside, he so reminded Bura of her father. The sternness of his eyes, the sharpness of his nose, the way he smiled. The colors were softened, the edges just slightly blurred, but when she looked at her brother sometimes it was Vegeta she saw instead. And she hated herself for that.

"Bra," Trunks was saying as he played with his glasses, not quite looking at his sister and not quite looking at the object in his hands, "I just need to let you know that I expect you to tell Marron about your _fertility issue _and I only want to hear more on the subject if I have to. And since you don't seem to know when to tell me things and when not to, I should be more specific: I only want to hear another word about this if you're pregnant."

Bra looked at her brother, crossing her arms over her chest smartly, "I don't exactly need Marron to be checking up on me all the time, not to ruin your big romance or anything."

"How could I even think of dating when I have you for a little sister?" Trunks smirked at the young woman who flushed in response. Something like flattery and mockery all at once, how like Trunks.

"That's not funny, Trunks." Bra said, leaning back. He'd successfully broken some of the ice, he noticed. He was glad, he hated it when she got hyperemotional and threw fits.

"Well, I'll tell you what's also not funny, little sis," Trunks said, putting out his cigarette. "Sleeping around with guys and not being able to look your mother in the eyes and telling her that you don't know if you're pregnant or not. Again, seeing as you have a communication problem," Trunks said, voice drenched with sarcasm, "that is to say, if I called Mom right now and had her come over here you couldn't tell her for sure that you're not pregnant."

"I'm _very sure _I'm not pregnant, Trunks-" Bra scoffed a little bit, thinking of how unfair her brother could be. Menacingly condescending at times, Trunks was not about to completely let her off the hook for this.

"But there is a chance? That would be enough to drive Father up the wall, I'm sure." Trunks pushed his glasses back on with his forefinger thoughtfully.

"Too bad Dad doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself." Bra hissed, scrunching her nose in disgust and cocking her head to the side haughtily. Trunks smiled, seeing in the mannerisms of the young woman some of his father's worst qualities. Worst of all, of course, was the fact that on a good day Bra could make these bad qualities out to be rather precious.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Trunks shrugged, unwilling to start yet another fight with his little sister over their father, "I can't tell you how to feel about Dad, I can only tell you that I know that he's not going to like it. Now I need you to tell me something."

"What?" Bura asked, with big eyes. She was frightened of the question, and even more so of what answer would come.

"Does this have anything, in _any, _even _minuscule _way to do with your professor? _Profe_. Are you trying to get his attention? Are you trying to get my attention?" He wasn't sure if he wanted this answer to be yes or no. If it was positive, he could get the bastard fired. He could find out where he lived and torture him for sleeping with his little sister. At the same time, he loathed to hear that his sister would be interested in some old, pedantic creep. Son Gohan? what a loser.

"I'm not trying to get _anyone's _attention," Bura hissed, standing and spinning around to face her brother while setting her hands firmly on her hips. Trunks marveled at the mirror image of a very young version of his mother. Bra was desperate for a way to change the subject.

"Well, what am I supposed to think, Bra? You've been talking about him for months, rambling really. You've gotta know what you sound like. A schoolgirl with a crush on her professor." He crossed his arms over his chest. "And Bra, I could really care less if you have a crush on your professor, but I need to know if he's done anything unethical because-"

Bra took a deep breath, "I just think that this has to do with me and no one else." She kind of blurted this out, and wasn't sure how it would sound in the air. For some reason, it felt more like the truth than the reality of the situation (_yeah, Trunks, I'm into my professor, what of it?). _

Trunks looked sternly at his little sister. "Fine. But I think this is a perfect example of why you should go to Black Star next semester."

Bura looked at her brother for a long, silent moment. She knew concessions had to be made if Trunks was going to be even a little bit willing to drop this and say nothing to their mother. She also knew that he'd wanted badly for her to get away from the school (_read: Gohan) _and after a quick cost-benefit evaluation she said, very slowly, "You can enroll me if you want."

* * *

"_You know it just seems like you were so angry with Marron."_

"_Marron's one of my best friends." A casual response. _

"_But she called your brother after you called her crying. You trusted her and you make it sound like she just wanted to flirt with your brother." _

"_Marron likes to make a scene of things like this because she has a crush on my brother. I don't think she realizes she's doing it or even means to, though." _

"_That makes it really easy to not be upset with her, then, huh?"_

"_So anyway," Bra continued a little rudely, "When my brother left that night I just felt really bad."_

"_Is that why you went out drinking?"_

_Bura looked away. "I didn't mean to do anything unsafe." _

"_So what happened?" _

"_I've told you before," She hissed, quietly. Like she was muttering it or whispering it._

"_Just once more. For clarity." _

* * *

Bura Briefs didn't mean to let things go from bad to worse, but she called Goten with a hurried and panicked voice, "Marron just made me tell Trunks something and I think we should talk before you hear the lie I told him because I know he's going to talk to you about this soon."

Goten's groggy voice, "Bura? Do you know what time it is?"

"Come get me. Let's go somewhere, anywhere." She pleaded. Goten hesitated for a moment, and then she heard shuffling.

"Alright. This had better be one good lie, Bra."

When Goten arrived, Bura was pacing back and forth nervously. "I don't know how to tell you this."

Goten quirked a brow. "I wonder if we should be talking out here." He was looking around, suddenly suspicious.

"No, we need to go somewhere."

Goten nodded. "Well, come on. In my car." He opened the door for her and gestured inside.

Bura got in.

* * *

"_You know, I remember when I used to work with Goten."_

"_You worked with Goten?"_

"_A long, long time ago. He used to give me rides back home. At first he smiled and said he didn't mind at all, it was the least he could do for his best friend's kid sister. It was a pretty stupid job. Some side projects of my brother's, just a few hours. He started out by inviting to drive me home, and inviting me to take off his shirt in that car, and inviting me to spread my legs." _

"_So you'd been with Goten before?"_

"_I was fifteen the first time Goten and I got together. It was summer. I wore nothing but short shorts and tank tops. We had a great time, every day was like a party at work and we'd stand outside of my mother's company building and drink until we saw two of everything. I remember this one time he was actually annoyed at me for following him out to his car, kind of assumptive in that he would take me home."_

"_And then?"_

"_I was mortified of course. He did it on purpose." _

"_And you blame yourself? He did take you every other day, after all." _

"_We would make out, but I would never have sex with him. I would give him oral sometimes, and he would always get really close to climaxing but I think I would get scared." _

"_So there's something about Goten, then?"_

"_I don't know. Maybe. He was my older brother's best friend. Isn't it pretty obvious at some point I would notice him?"_

"_You and Goten also drink a lot together, I've noticed."_

"_Yeah," Bra smiled a little bit, placing her finger to her lips, "But shh! Don't tell anyone." _

* * *

He opened the beer and handed it to her. Did the same for himself. "So what's this major lie or life crisis you wanted to talk about?"

"Well," Bura took a drink, "thanks to my pal Marron, I just talked to Trunks about uh, the people I've been dating."

Goten raised a brow. "Bra…" He dragged her name out, "Why did you call me here in the middle of the night to tell me that Trunks knows you're dating?"

Bra coughed a little and took a large gulp. "Well, see I had to lie to him because he was about to find out that we hang out."

Goten nodded a little bit, looking back over at Bra. "Alright. So, what? What'd you tell him?"

"That I've been having sex with someone who is the brother of the man I'm really in love with." Bra said, looking Goten dead on. She didn't blink once. And then, at his wide eyes, she took a gulp.

"Bra, I don't know where you come up with these things, but you're a genius."

Bra blinks. This is not the response that she is expecting. "What?"

"Well, now I'm completely off the hook and he's going to be preoccupied for a few days trying to figure out who the lucky men are." He laced his fingers together and leaned back.

Bra was happy that Goten wasn't bothered, although she had expected her to at least ask if what she'd told Trunks was in fact the truth. "Yeah." She said, taking another gulp.

In Goten's car in the middle of the night with music playing not too loud in the background, Bra began to feel the alcohol take hold of her body. Goten wasn't too far behind. They crushed the empty cans and threw them in the back, talking about absolutely nothing for a while. After some time had passed Goten looked over at Bra, pushing a strand of hair behind her ears, and suddenly saying, "So, hey, Bra?"

She looked over at him, feeling a curious chill at the warmth of his hand touching her cheek. "Yeah?" She asked, looking up at him.

"I really like spending time with you."

Bra shook her head, laughing a little bit, "No, you don't. You're always so nonchalant about us spending time together."

Goten shook his head a little bit, "No, really. I like hanging out with you a lot." He laughed a little and there was something very sweet and loving about his eyes and smile.

She touched his hand, still on her cheek, and shook her head a little bit despite the smile that was starting to form on her lips. She set her empty beer can to the side and got on her knees on the seat, crawling onto Goten's waiting and friendly lap. She ran her lips over his jaw, brushed them against his lips, and then up, over his brow to his ear, "I know what you're doing here, Son Goten, you're trying to take advantage of me."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight against him. Cocky smile on his lips as he just enjoys the _feel _of her on him, he murmurs to no one in particular, "Oh? Am I, now?" He's really rather busy watching her.

* * *

-**CL **


	12. Part Two

"_Bura, Miss Briefs… Bura. You've got to finish the story, now. You've been here ten times already. Ten times in ten weeks, and still you have yet to …"_

_Bura looked down. "Goten got into an accident that night. No one else was hurt, not really. But to take care of Goten, we had to get my father… that's when things really went out of control." _

_The woman looked up, "We're almost out of time, Miss Briefs."_

_Bura sighed. She looked at the cigarette in her dainty little hand. And then, she resented it all. She resented her smallness, and she resented her meaningless, and she resented her whole life being dictated by all of these absolutely, incredibly incredible people. _

_So she did what anyone would do. She threw away the cigarette, grabbed her bag, and walked out. "I don't owe you the rest of the story." _

**DISASTER**

The rain fell down very gently. Trunks peered over at her with something of a glare, "You're out early."

"We made a major breakthrough."

"C'mon, B, I told you just this one last time…" He trailed off. Bura entered the car. Why did she have to be so difficult? Why did she have to refuse his help? Didn't she realize this was all for her benefit? Didn't she realize that he just wanted her to deal with all of this?

She took a deep breath, "And what am I supposed to do? Tell her about Dad? Tell her about the Dragonballs? How Dad ran off into outer space with one of the balls because we all pissed him off, and how Gokou had to track him down to save Goten?"

"You could omit that part, but you need to deal with the fact that you and Goten made a terrible mistake that night and a lot of people could have gotten hurt because of your stupid decisions!"

Bura took a deep breath. Because fighting did nothing, because her brother was right, and because she had no other allies. Because she needed to control herself. "How was therapy supposed to help me deal with that?"

"You just need to work through some things… figure out what it is that you think you wanted so much from… all of these things, any of these things…" Trunks rubbed his head.

"Don't you think that I've been doing well?"

"You still won't talk to Dad. You still won't talk to Mom."

Bra scoffs. Why would she want to talk to either of her parents, at all? Sometimes she felt like Trunks just said the dumbest things. She tried to approach him in a different way, for the sake of not arguing, and for the sake of explaining to him that she had a right to keep them as far away from her as she liked. "Yeah, but I graduated and I got accepted into Great Oaks Academy. Isn't that worth anything?"

Trunks gave out a deep sigh, "You know that I am so very happy that you've made it out of all of this alive, but you can't spend the rest of your life being mad at us."

"For being aliens? For lying to me? For messing around with my memory-with my life?"

Trunks sighed, "No one could have a normal life. No one. After you were born, Mom was so depressed and the Son family wasn't doing much better…"

Bura leaned back in the car, "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She couldn't handle it. The whole thing, the whole story, it was so absurd, so frustrating, so painful...

Trunks pulled off the road very suddenly. A car behind him honked. "I need you to understand what happened before you were born, Bura, I need you to understand why it was so important…"

Bura crossed her arms over her chest, "Well, why did Dad have to just run off like that? Why couldn't he wipe everyone's memories and just stay?"

"He's not a human being, Bura! He couldn't pretend to be, and Mom would have expected him to get a job and really participate in the real world… and you! She wanted, she _consented _to this before you were born, because she wanted you to have a normal life."

"We just ended up finding each other anyway. Gohan, and Goten, and everyone, we all just found our ways right back to each other, and now Gokou and ChiChi have to explain to their sons and granddaughter all of the horrible things that have happened—"

"Not horrible. Just bizarre. But a bunch of warriors… in a time of peace, well they go a little insane. They don't always know how to cope with the peace for which they fought so hard…"

"And you?"

"I didn't decide anything. I only remember when Dad and Gokou took off to make the wish. The sky got dark, and then nothing. Dad came back, for a few years he and Mom got on alright. But he just couldn't adapt to human society in the way that Mom, without any context of his background, needed him to… In trying to save her, and everyone else, from all of the memories and all of the restlessness and the _boredom _and the violence that occurred as a result of it, Dad gave up Mom…"

"And then when Goten died in the car crash, he had to just show up."

Trunks rubbed his head, "Gokou was the first on the scene. He found Dad, and when they saw what a mess everything had become, because of _you, _because Gohan was two steps away from giving away his whole family for you and because Goten, using _human _alcohol and drugs had literally caused his Saiya-Jin body so much damage that they realized that they'd created as much damage as they were trying to prevent, they gave everyone their memories back."

Bura swallowed, "My memories are the same. Dad was here, Dad wasn't here, and now he's back again, and I don't want to have anything to do with his _alien race…"_

"I know you feel that way now, but don't you ever want to know why you're so abnormally strong for a young girl?" Trunks urged her on with his eyes. Bura looked away.

"I'm just very fit."

"You have something wonderful inside of you! And Goten and I, we found each other too, and it's because we're all connected, Bra, we never should have tried to play God like that…"

"_We? _This is Dad's work. This is Goku's work. They did this."

"Dad and Gokou were trying to protect us from ourselves. And with Goten and I getting older and more destructive, and with Dad getting so restless and Mom was so _sad, _and Gohan felt so guilty about never living up to his full potential, it was just…"

Bura cringed when Gohan's name was mentioned. Trunks put a hand on hers. "I know you still care about both of them. But Gohan has Videl, and you and Goten are all wrong for each other. You'll find someone else, you know it… Just… just realize that no one was trying to hurt anyone."

"Why was Mom so sad? We were on the winning team, right? She'd known Gokou and Dad more than half her life, right? Been to another planet, all sorts of crazy adventures. What was it about _my birth _that made her suddenly regret her whole life?"

Brother tried to pet sister, but to no avail, "It wasn't you, it really wasn't… She just, the pregnancy was really hard on her, harder than anyone could have expected, and then as the years passed and she had this beautiful little daughter who was smart and strong, and Dad said that you couldn't escape being a Saiya-Jin, and she just… freaked out."

Trunks remembered it clearly for the first time in years. The escalating of his parents' fighting. And then, he remembered the nothingness after the day the sky went all dark.

"When Dad decided to go, he took a DragonBall with him, to make sure that no one would ever abuse their power. And Gokou stayed on Earth to watch over everyone and protect us if any new threats should arise."

"Some fairy tale romance. Bulma and Vegeta. Bulma can't handle postpartum depression, and Vegeta decides to leave the planet after wiping her memory doesn't work. It doesn't make sense." Bura shook her head.

Trunks looked at her, and gently stroked her hair, "Bura, Bra, Baby, don't worry about any of that anymore. I know you grew up so fast…"

"And no one bothered to ever tell me who I was or where I was from! No, when it got difficult, someone decided 'Hey! I'll just wipe their memories!'"

"It was a last resort. Gokou and Vegeta spent a long time trying to find another way. It wasn't just about Mom. It was about Gohan. And the effect that fighting Buu had on Goten and I. No one was handling it well at all. Goten and I, we thought we were _invincible, _and our pranks were becoming so dangerous… people were getting hurt! And Gohan. He was so volatile… I'd never seen him like I saw him Pan's first birthday party."

Bura put her hands over her face, "I don't want to talk about the Son family at all!"

"Okay. Alright, okay, that's fine." Trunks gently leaned over and kissed the side of his sister's face, "You don't have to worry about them anymore. But don't turn your back on all of us."

"It's a little too late for that." Bura said, shaking her head.

**Four Years Later **

Vegeta kept an eye on his daughter, but he never approached her. Though he was able to mend his relationship with his wife and redeem himself in the eyes of his son, he was never quite able to explain to Bura why he made the decision to leave her life, even if it was for her own benefit.

But he was there, at least once a week, frightening away her dates and leaving small gifts at her bedside. He especially liked to listen to her late night conversations with her girlfriends, where she would speak frankly about all of the things that she was doing and all of the things she wanted to do.

She took her time finishing her degree, even though she had no troubles with her studies and she took classes year round. She studied everything: art, science, math, philosophy, literature, computer science, business. She excelled. Even when her friends were jealous, and her boyfriends would dare to try to tear her down (Vegeta had plenty to say to them about that, late at night, with his fists…).

She was his prize: her happiness was a prize to him.

Despite all of the mistakes he'd made in the past, knowing that she managed to achieve some sort of normal, enjoyable life gave him peace. When he would thirst for the blood of an enemy, or occasionally wistfully think of skipping off to some bloody distant planet, just for a little while, he would first find his young daughter and kiss her goodnight while she was sleeping.

Bulma said that Bura would eventually come around. It didn't seem like Bura would ever truly embrace the events leading up to her birth. In a sense, she didn't really have to. It was all a world that existed outside of her very own existence.

Maybe that's exactly why she refused to connect with him. Vegeta could speak to Trunks, frankly, about the past. And Trunks, as he had come to be older, learned to deal with his Saiya-Jin instincts. Vegeta could take Trunks away to safe places to do battle.

Bura, although in possession of the characteristic strength of a Saiya-Jin, did not seem to possess the need to be in battle. Much to Vegeta's dismay, most of her negative emotions were translated into lust. And she was a very beautiful girl, with the world at her feet.

Vegeta watched as the light went off in the window of her apartment. He would wait a few hours, just to be certain that she was asleep. He could feel that she was alone, and was grateful for it. He would soon find his way into her bedroom, just to tuck her hair behind her ear, so that he could look at her, and wish that eventually he may find a speaking role in her life.

**(Chance)**

Her lips curled, almost sadistically as she looked forth at the panting man's large blue eyes, and her hands slid down from his heaving chest to the metal on his belt.

"Professor, you see, I find you very, very attractive."

"You don't say…" he said, just under his breath, some sultry murmur for no one's benefit.

This is what office hours had come to look like. First, an invitation to speak in private. Then, a flirtatious episode or two. Somehow she ended up in his lap, her lips on his flesh, and they were very excited about it.

Bura didn't exactly mean to always get herself into these sorts of situations. Authority figures! Her friends would laugh and tease and say that she always had a thing for authority figures. Maybe it was true. But her professor, he was so smart and charming and certain. How could she not adore a man like that?

His hand trailed down her back. He whined and gasped under her as if he'd never been touched by a woman before. His eagerness only excited her more. She was a performer on stage. This is where she was both at home and the most vulnerable.

He tucked a strand of hair out of her face as she bent over him. He leaned his head back the lower she got.

This is it, the result of all of that anticipation and desire and sexual frustration. All of the weeks she spent trying to not blush when he said something cocky to her, trying to not think about his touch when she went to sleep.

Just before her lips touched his member, the window beside her professor's head cracked. The glass shattered. A little blood escaped from the side of his face. She gasped, and immediately made to nurse his wound.

"Oh, gosh, how the hell could that have happened?" Bura, having thrown her clothes on in exactly enough time for another staff member to rush in, examined the broken window.

The professor, to his benefit, threw his pants on, along with the book that he and his student were supposed to have been looking at.

He did it, she did it, together in sync, despite this odd twist of fate that prevented him from receiving any release whatsoever from this gorgeous little harlot, they in perfect unison managed to prevent any disaster.

* * *

**GB**


End file.
